1 


Frontispiece. 


STUCCO-RELIEF    PALANQUE3,  CHIAPAS. 


PAST    AND    PRESENT 


BY 

HANNAH   MORE  (JOHNSON. 


WITH    SIXTY-THREE   MAPS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PHILADELPHIA  : 
PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION, 

1334  CHESTNUT  STREET. 


COPYRIGHT,   1887,   BY 

THE  TRUSTEES  OP  THE 

PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION. 


AU  Rights  Resei-ved. 


WESTCOTT  A  THOMSON, 
Slereoiypers  and  Electrotypert,  Philada. 


PREFACE. 


IT  is  not  judged  needful  by  either  author  or  publisher 
to  assign  reasons  for  laying  before  the  public  these  chap- 
ters About  Mexico,  Past  and  Present,  much  less  to  apol- 
ogize for  so  doing,  save  as  they  may  be  inadequate  to  the 
importance  and  the  interest  of  the  subject.  Our  "  next 
neighbor "  on  the  south  needs  and  deserves  to  be  under- 
stood by  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  especially 
by  those  who  have  at  heart  the  welfare  of  their  fellow- 
men  and  desire  the  extension  to  them  of  the  blessings 
of  a  pure  and  elevating  Bible  Christianity.  Near  neigh- 
borhood enhances  all  the  motives  which  would  lead  us  to 
study  another  nation  and  emphasizes  our  obligation  so  to 
do.  In  the  case  of  Mexico  the  romance  of  her  history 
as  well  as  the  wonders  of  her  land  and  the  hope  of  her 
future  renders  interest  in  her  people  and  in  their  wel- 
fare easy. 

Among  the  many  authorities  consulted  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  this  work,  the  author  would  acknowledge  special 
indebtedness  to — 

HISTORY  OF  COLUMBUS,  Washington  Irving. 
HOUSES  AND  HOME-LIFE  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ABORIGINES, 
L.  H.  Morgan  (Government  Printing-Office,  Washington,  D.  C., 


6  PREFACE. 

1881) ;  also  an  article  by  the  same  writer  in  JOHNSON'S  CYCLO- 
PEDIA, entitled  ''Architecture  of  American  Indians." 

Articles  by  Ad.  F.  Bandelier,  EEPOKT  OF  PEABODY  MUSEUM, 
1880. 

NATIVE  BELIGIONS  OF  MEXICO  AND  PERU,  Eevelle  (1884). 

DESPATCHES  OF  HERNANDEZ  CORTEZ,  with  introduction  by 
George  Folsom  (New  York,  1843). 

MEMOIRS  OF  CAPTAIN  BERNAL  DIAZ. 

HISTORY  OF  MEXICO,  by  the  Abbe  Clavigero. 

ORIGIN  OF  WRITTEN  LANGUAGE,  Eev.  James  F.  Eiggs, 
Mexico. 

MEXICO,  by  Brantz  Mayer. 

HISTORY  OF  MEXICO,  H.  H.  Bancroft. 

CAUSES  AND  CONSEQUENCES  OF  THE  MEXICAN  WAR,  Wil- 
liam Jay. 

MEXICO  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES,  Gorham  D.  Abbott,  D.D., 
LL.D. 

TWENTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  MEXICANS,  by  Miss  Melinda 
Eankin  (1875). 

Publications  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions, 
of  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  and  the  BIBLE 
SOCIETY  EECORD. 

For  the  use  of  valuable  engravings  which  add  much 
to  the  interest  of  its  pages  the  book  is  indebted  to  the 
courtesy  of  the  Missouri  and  Pacific  Railway  Company, 
St.  Louis,  and  to  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions,  New  York,  to  whom  the  thanks  of  author 
and  publisher  are  hereby  gratefully  tendered. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

A  HIDDEN  CONTINENT. 

PAGE 

Columbus  the  Pathfinder.— The  first  Sight  of  Mexicans.— The 
Delusion  of  the  Age. — Mexico  before  the  Conquest. — Geogra- 
phy of  the  Country. — Climate. — Productions  17 

CHAPTER  II. 

EARLY  SETTLERS  OF  MEXICO. 

Votan.— Whom  did  he  Find  in  Mexico  ?— Old  Paths  thither.— 
A  New  Nation. — Toltec  Remains. — The  History  of  a  Word  .  29 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  VALLEY  REPEOPLED. 

Village  Indians. — Dialects. — Aztecs. — Maps  and  Histories. — 
Character. — Mexico  Founded. — The  City  Described. — Tez- 
cuco. — Ruined  Cities. — Communistic  Society. — Pueblos  ...  36 

CHAPTER  IV. 

LAWS  AND  LAWGIVERS. 

Mistakes  of  Early  Historians. — Indian  Republics. — Modern  In- 
dian Communism. — The  Aztec  Clan. — Secession. — The  Tez- 
cucans. — The  Confederacy. — Tribal  Council. — The  Chief-of- 

Men.— Tribal  Laws 50 

1 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

ON  THE  WAR-PATH. 

PAGE 

A  Nation  of  Warriors. — To  Arms ! — Armor. — Dress. — Commis- 
sary Department. — The  Fight  for  Chapultepec. — The  Price  of 
an  Election. — Tactics  in  War. — The  Banner  of  the  Tribe. — 
The  Captives. — Triumphal  Processions. — Foray  in  1497. — 
Effects  of  War 61 

CHAPTER  VI. 

SACRED  PLACES  AND  PEOPLE. 

The  Home  of  the  Gods.— Star- Worship.— The  One  True  God.— 
An  Aztec  Martyr. — The  Temple  of  Hungry  Fox. — The  War- 
God  and  his  Brother. — The  Hearer  of  Prayer. — Feathered 
Serpent  and  his  Work. — Too  much  Pulque. — The  Temple  of 
the  Fair  God.— Great  Teocallis.— Priests 70 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  HABITATIONS  OF  CRUELTY. 

The  Aztec  Hereafter. — Human  Sacrifices. — Cannibalism. — Pen- 
ances.— Self-Sacrifice. — Year-Binding 83 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

CIVILIZATION  OF  MEXICO. 

Surprising  Ignorance. — A  New  Species  of  God. — Freight-Car- 
riers.— Merchants. — A  Mexican  Home. — Currency. — Markets. 
— Baths. — Gardens. — Tyranny  of  Custom. — Manners. — Cook- 
ery.— Dress. — Appearance. — Art-Work. — Funerals 92 

CHAPTER  IX. 

AMONG  THE  BOOKS. 

Origin  of  Written  Language. — Indian  Written  Languages  Com- 
pared.— Varieties  in  Penmanship. — Mexican  Authors. — Their 
Romish  Imitators. — Celebrated  Manuscripts. — Make-Up  of  an 
Aztec  Book. — Language. — An  Indian  Poet — Numeration. — 
Measurement  of  Time , 105 


CONTENTS.  9 

CHAPTER  X. 

CHILD-LIFE  IN  MEXICO. 

PAUE 

Endurance. — Obedience  to  Parents. — Penances. — An  Indian 
Baby. — Naming  a  Man. — Housekeeping  in  Anahuac. — Steps 
in  Education. — Discipline. — Public  Schools. — Girls'  Work  in 
the  Temple. — Boys'  Work. — Amusements. — Mimic  War. — 
Fishing- Day.  —  Snaring  Game.  —  Cadet-Life.  —  Graduating- 
Day. — Marriage. — A  Midnight  Revel. — Motherly  Care. — Sick 
Children. — Baby-Victims. — The  Youth  of  Hungry  Fox  .  .  .113 

CHAPTER  XI. 

A  GATHERING  CLOUD. 

Strange  News  in  Mexico. — Aztec  Tyranny. — Old  Hopes  Re- 
vived.— Portents. — Montezuma's  Fear. — The  Earliest  Spanish 
Colonies. — Slave-Hunts. — Grijalva's  Expedition. — Hernandez 
Cortez.  —  Unwelcome  Guests.  —  Soldier-Missionaries.  — First 
Lessons  in  Christianity 128 

CHAPTER  XII. 

NEW  SPAIN. 

A  Cool  Reception. — Taking  Possession  with  the  Sword. — The 
First  Tribute.— Palm  Sunday.— A  Welcome  at  Last.— The 
Camp  on  the  Beach. — Teuthile. — Marina,  the  first  American 
Christian. — Presents  to  Montezuma. — Startling  Despatches. — 
Presents  sent  Home  to  Spain. — "  Come  no  Farther." — First 
Sermon  to  Aztecs. — A  Great  Surprise. — Totonacan  Visitors. — 
Exploration 140 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

CEMPOALLA  TO  TLASCALA. 

New  Seville. — Hospitalities. — New  Allies. — Cortez  as  a  Mission- 
ary.— The  New  Encampment. — The  Thin  Edge  of  a  Wedge. 
— Anxiety  in  Mexico. — Another  Aztec  Embassy. — Breach 
"Widens  Between  Old  Foes. — Spanish  Duplicity. — A  Religious 
Visit. — Change  of  Public  Sentiment  in  Mexico. — March  from 
Cempoalla. — Sinking  the  Ships. — Beauties  of  the  Road. — A 
Frigid  Zone. — A  Highland  Chief. — Tlascala. — A  Week  of 
Battles. — Spanish  Victories  in  Peace  and  in  War 151 


10  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

HO  FOR  THE  CAPITAL ! 

PAGE 

Are  they  Gods,  or  are  they  Men?— An  Aztec  Plot. — Reception 
in  Cholula.— The  Snare  Discovered. — Cruel  Vengeance. — The 
Business  of  Conversion. — One  Ray  of  Gospel  Light. — More 
Aztec  Gifts. — Aztec  Position  Explained. — The  Road  to  Mex- 
ico Blocked. — Ascending  a  Volcano. — Another  Embassy  .  .  169 

CHAPTER  XV. 

MEXICO  REACHED  AT  LAST. 

First  View  of  City. — A  Thrilling  Message. — An  Indian  Fort- 
ress.— Beautiful  Iztapalapa. — Reception  in  Mexico. — Indian 
Etiquette. — Montezuma's  Visit. — His  Story. — The  Spanish 
Quarters. — Visiting  Montezuma. — A  Sermon. — Two  Parties  in 
Mexico. — More  Preaching. — Were  the  Aztecs  Cannibals? — 
The  Secret  Chamber 183 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

A  CAPTIVE  CHIEF. 

The  Aztecs  at  Home. — Bad  News  from  Villa  Rica. — Plots  and 
Counterplots. — The  Spaniards  not  Gods. — Seizure  of  Monte- 
zuma.— Spanish  Justice. — The  Humbled  Chief. — The  Pleas- 
ures of  Captivity. — Search  for  a  Harbor. — A  Southern  Colony  195 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  AZTECS  REBEL. 

Aztec  Conspiracy. — The  Tezcucan  Chief. — Arrested. — Aztecs 
Swear  Allegiance. — A  Spanish  Quarrel. — Cortez  Demands  the 
Temple. — Fears  of  Aztec  Revolt. — The  Spaniards  Consent  to 
Go.  —  Shipbuilding.  —  Enemies  from  Cuba. — Cortez  makes 
Friends  of  Enemies. — Conquers  Narvaez. — Bad  News  from 
Mexico. — Return  of  Cortez. — Alvarado's  Cruelty. — Aztec  Ven- 
geance.— Siege  of  the  Garrison. — The  Death  of  Montezuma. 
— A  Fight  on  the  Temple-Roof. — The  War-God  has  a  Tum- 
ble.— Moving  Fortresses. — Bridges  Destroyed. — The  Noche 
Triste .203 


CONTENTS.  11 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

MEXICO  SHALL  BE  CONQUERED ! 

PACK 

A  Rally  at  Tlacopan. — Ketreat  to  Tlascala. — Victory  at  Otnm- 

ba. What  will  Tlascala  Say? — Indian  Hospitality. — Juan 

Yuste. — An  Aztec  Bribe. — A  Successful  Foray. — Preparations 
to  Attack  Mexico. — Death  of  the  White  Man's  Friend. — Over- 
looking Mexico. — Deserted  Tezcuco. — New  Allies. — Subduing 
the  Valley. — New  Boats. — Plans  for  Attack. — Cutting  the 
Causeway. — Spaniards  on  a  High  Altar. — Fire  and  Sword. — 
The  Tribes  Rally. — Cortez  Destroys  the  City. — Guatemozin 
Captured 221 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  HEEL  OF  THE  OPPRESSOR. 

Ruined  Mexico. — Extending  Conquests. — Search  for  South  Seas. 
Rebuilding  the  City. — Guatemozin  Betrayed. — Spanish  Cru- 
elty.— Converting  the  People. — Cortez  Sends  for  Missionary 
Helpers. — Their  Character. — Spiritual  and  Financial  Success. 
— Conservative  Indians. — The  Monks  Befriend  them. — Abuses 
of  Power. — Enslavement  of  Indians. — The  Council  of  the  In- 
dies.— Rebellion. — The  Chiefs  on  Horseback. — Riveting  the 
Chains. — Draining  Lake  Zumpango. — Teaching  the  Indians  .  238 


CHAPTER  XX. 

VICEROY  ALT  Y. 

Sufferings  of  Colonists. — The  Seven  Cities  of  Cibola. — Uncivil- 
iziug  Mexico. — The  World's  Treasure-House. — New- World 
Gold  for  Old- World  Wars.— Buying  Heaven  with  Cash.— The 
Pope  and  his  Imperial  Partner. — The  Inquisition  Set  Up. — 
Expulsion  of  Jesuits. — Splendid  Churches. — Mexican  Chris- 
tianity a  Failure. — Those  Gachupines! — Loyalty  to  Spain. — 
Hidalgo's  Shout  for  Independence. — His  Betrayal  and  Death. 
— Nursing  a  Roman  Viper. — The  First  Congress  and  its  Con- 
stitution.— Morelos  and  his  Heroes. — His  Martyrdom  ....  259 


12  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEK  XXI. 

MEXICAN  INDEPENDENCE. 

PACK 

Liberty  Bides  her  Time.— Shall  the  Bourbons  be  Eestored  ? — 
Iturbide's  Blow  for  Independence. — The  Plan  of  Iguala.— 
Victoria  Guadalupe. — The  Emperor  Iturbide. — His  Mistake. 
—His  Exile.— His  Death.— The  Last  Foothold  of  Spain  — 
Benito  Juarez. — Eise  of  the  Church  Party. — The  Law  of 
Juarez. — The  Constitution  of  1857. — European  Interference. 
— King-Making,  and  what  Came  of  It. — Maximilian's  Death. 
— Progress  of  Constitutional  Liberty. — Present  State  of  Mex- 
ico .  277 


CHAPTEE  XXII. 

TO  MEXICO  BY  KAIL. 

The  Mountain  of  the  Star.— Vera  Cruz.— The  Castle.— Through 
the  Hot  Lands. — Climbing  the  Sierras. — Indian  Hucksters. — 
Orizaba. — The  City  of  Mexico. — Its  Mountain-Sentinels. — 
Gardens. — Markets. — Water- Works. — Grand  Plaza. — Paseos. 
— Alameda. — Memories  of  the  Inquisition. — Churches  for  Sale. 
— The  Grand  Cathedral.— Aztec  Belies. — The  Mexican  Fourth 
of  July. — Streets  and  Houses. — City  Improvements. — Educa- 
tion.— Illiteracy. — Worshipers. — Street  Scenes. — Chapultepec. 
— Sulphur-Factory  in  a  Volcano. — The  Two  Virgins. — Their 
Political  Friends  .  ...  307 


CHAPTEE  XXIII. 

THE  LAND :  ITS  PRODUCTS  AND  CITIES. 

Present  Limits  of  Mexico. — Its  Harbors. — Prospective  Changes. 
— Tunneling  Volcanoes.  —  Eoad-Makers. — Unexplored  Ee- 
gions. — The  Siesta. — The  Seasons. — Want  of  Forests. — The 
Cactus  Family. — The  Maguey  and  Pulque. — Intemperance. — 
"An  Agricultural  Cosmos." — Mines. — Indian  Character. — The 
Mozo. — Eailroading.  —  Burros. —  Mexican  Homes. — Popula- 
tion.— The  Hacienda. — Old  Tezcuco  and  Tula.— Monterey 
and  its  Suburbs. — Chihuahua.  —  Zacatecas. — Guanajuato. — 
Queretaro. — Guadalajara. — Puebla 336 


CONTENTS.  13 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

"A  LIGHT  THAT  SHINETH  IN  A  DARK  PLACE." 

PAGE 

The  Gospel  in  the  Sixteenth  Century. — Political  Influence  of 
Luther's  Bible. — Romish  Antagonism. — Bible  Translations. — 
The  Translation  of  Enzinas. — Escape  from  the  Inquisition. — 
The  Iron  Rule  in  Mexico. — The  Circulation  of  the  Bible  in 
Mexico. — A  Reading-Circle  in  the  Fields. — The  Story  of  San 
Roman. — Miss  Rankin  the  Pioneer  Missionary. — Blessed  Re- 
sults .  .  360 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

REGENERATION  OF  MEXICO. 

Praying  in  an  Unknown  Tongue. — Francisco  Aguilar. — The 
Church  of  Jesus. — Death  of  Aguilar. — Rev.  H.  C.  Riley. — 
Conversion  of  Manuel  Aguas. — His  Death. — Rev.  James 
Hickey. — The  Mission  Work  by  the  Baptist  Church  (South). 
— The  Presbyterian  Church.  —  The  Presbyterian  Church 
(South). — Friends. — Methodist  Episcopal  Church. — Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  (South).— The  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.— Martyrs.— 
Native  Evangelists. — Devoted  Service. — Glorious  Outlook  .  .  380 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGH 

STUCCO-BELIEF,  PALANQUES,  CHIAPAS Frontispiece. 

POPOCATAPETL    ("THE   HlLL   THAT   SMOKES ") 23 

PLANTATION  OF  MAGUEY  (Agave  Americana) 25 

ANCIENT  TOLTEC  PALACE  AT  TULA  (OR  TULLAN),  MEXICO  .    .    33 

BUINS  IN  YUCATAN 43 

A  PUEBLO  (COMMUNAL  DWELLING)  IN  NEW  MEXICO  ....    45 

A  TAOS  PTJEBLO  ...       47 

MEXICAN  INDIAN  MAT-MAKERS  (MODERN) 59 

MEXICAN  GOD  OF  WAR,  HUITIZILAPOCHTLI,  OR  HUMMING- 
BIRD   73 

TEMPLE  OF  TIKAL,  A  SUBURB  OF  FLORES,  YUCATAN   ....    77 
GREAT  SACRIFICIAL  STONE  OF  THE  AZTECS,  MEXICO  ....    79 

AZTEC  GODDESS  OF  DEATH 85 

TRADERS  ON  THE  CANAL  (MODERN) 95 

THE  SPLENDID  TROGON  OF  MEXICO 97 

INDIGENOS  OF  NORTHERN  GUATEMALA 133 

MAP  OF  THE  MAINLAND  OP  YUCATAN,  MEXICO 134 

PRESENT  INHABITANTS  OF  MERIDA,  YUCATAN 137 

ORIZABA,  AS  SEEN  FROM  THE  MEXICO  AND  VP:RA  CRUZ  BAIL- 
ROAD  153 

MAP  OF  THE  MARCH  TO  MEXICO  .   .   . 154 

TRANSCONTINENTAL  PROFILE  OF  MEXICO 166 

MEXICAN  BASKET-SELLERS 168 

PYRAMID  OF  CHOLULA 173 

NEAR  VIEW  OF  POPOCATAPETL 181 

MAP  OF  THE  VALLEY  OF  MEXICO 186 

MAP  OF  MEXICO  AND  TEZCUCO 204 

MEXICAN  TEOCALLIS 215 

PEUBLO  OF  NORTHERN  MEXICO 219 

THE  VALLEY  OF  TULA,  MEXICO 231 

15 


1 6  ILL  USTRA  TIONS. 

PAGE 

FOOD- VENDER 237 

THE  GREAT  CATHEDRAL  OF  THE  CITY  OF  MEXICO 241 

CHURCH  OF  TEOTIHUACAN,  MEXICO •    ...  249 

KEFRESHMENTS  FOR  THE  HUNGRY  (MEXICO) .  257 

A  PUEBLO,  AS  NOW  EXISTING  IN  NEW  MEXICO    .    .  .    .  263 

MIGUEL  HIDALGO 271 

BARRACK  AT  SALTILLO 277 

HIGH  BRIDGE  ON  THE  MEXICO  AND  VERA  CRUZ  RAILWAY  .  281 

BENITO  JUAREZ 287 

CHURCH  OF  SAN  DOMINGO,  CITY  OF  MEXICO 298 

MEXICAN  OFFICERS 301 

STREET  IN  VERA  CRUZ 308 

INDIAN  HUT  IN  THE  TIERRA  CALIENTE 311 

CITY  OF  MEXICO  (DISTANT  VIEW) .       .    .  313 

THE  CITY  OF  MEXICO 315 

TERMINUS  OF  LAKE  CHALCO  CANAL,  MEXICO  CITY 317 

MERCHANTS'  BAZAAR,  MEXICO 322 

SELLER  OF  BIRD-CAGES,  MEXICO 323 

MEXICAN  MARKET-WOMAN 325 

A  MEXICAN  SENORA 326 

CHAPULTEPEC  CASTLE 329 

SUMMIT  OF  IZTACCIHUATL,  MEXICO 330 

ON  THE  CANAL,  NEAR  MEXICO  CITY 337 

THE  OX-CART 338 

WATER-PEDDLER,  MEXICO 340 

GATHERING  THE  JUICE  OF  THE  MAGUEY  FOR  PULQUE      .   .  341 

SHOP  FOR  THE  SALE  OF  PULQUE 343 

NATIVE  INDIAN  ABODE 347 

MAKING  TORTILLAS,  MEXICO 348 

MEXICAN  WATER- WORKS 349 

CITY  OF  MONTEREY,  MEXICO 353 

CITY  OF  QUERETARO 357 

WASHING  AT  THE  WELL 360 

MONTEREY 375 

CHURCH  OF  SAN  FRANCISCO,  MONTEREY 376 


ABOUT  MEXICO. 


CHAPTER    I. 
A  HIDDEN  CONTINENT, 

UNTIL  Christopher  Columbus,  by  his  voyage  across 
the  Atlantic,  had  proved  that  the  world  is  rouud, 
110  one  in  Europe  thought  of  going  westward  to  reach 
India.  Merchants  and  travelers  took  the  old  caravan- 
routes  through  Syria  and  the  Valley  of  the  Euphrates, 
or  crossed  Egypt  and  went  by  the  Red  Sea.  Every 
path  to  the  land  of  gold  led  men  eastward.  Marco 
Polo,  a  Venetian  traveler  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
journeyed  by  these  old  paths  so  far  east  that  he  stood 
on  the  pine-clad  hills  of  Xipangu  (Japan)  and  looked 
out  on  the  broad  Pacific  Ocean.  He  supposed  that  this 
was  one  of  those  great  flat  seas  by  which  the  flat  wrorld 
was  encircled,  and  that  if  a  vessel  ventured  too  far  upon 
it  contrary  winds  might  blow  such  unwary  sailors  over 
the  edge  of  the  world.  Columbus,  who  was  a  student 
as  well  as  a  sailor,  read  the  adventures  of  Marco  Polo 
and  other  travelers,  and  came  to  quite  a  different  con- 
clusion. If  the  world  is  round,  as  he  believed,  the 
water  which  Marco  Polo  saw  stretching  far  to  the  east 
was  the  same  ocean  as  that  which  washed  the  western 
shores  of  Europe.  Japan  and  India  could  be  reached 
2  ir 


18  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

by  a  vessel  from  Europe  steered  due  west  across  the  At- 
lantic Ocean. 

For  eighteen  long  years  Columbus  talked  and  dreamed 
of  this  voyage.  At  last,  in  the  year  1492,  after  many 
disheartening  delays,  he  sailed  from  the  harbor  of  Palos, 
in  Spain,  with  a  little  fleet  of  vessels  provided  by  his 
sovereigns,  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  and  Isabella  of  Cas- 
tile, king  and  queen  of  the  united  Spains.  It  was  on 
this  voyage  to  India  that  Columbus  discovered  the  little 
island  of  Guana-hane,  one  of  the  Bahamas,  named  by 
him  "  San  Salvador."  He  supposed  it  to  be  one  of  the 
outlying  islands  of  Asia,  and  that  by  pushing  on  still 
farther  toward  the  west  he  would  soon  reach  that  con- 
tinent. His  great  desire  was  to  open  up  to  his  coun- 
trymen a  new  path  to  the  Spice  Islands,  the  pearl-fish- 
eries and  the  mines  of  gold,  silver  and  precious  stones 
of  which  they  so  fondly  dreamed,  and,  better  still — for 
Columbus  was  an  earnest  Christian — to  tell  the  story  of 
the  cross  to  its  heathen  people.  He  hoped  also  to  build 
up  a  new  empire  for  Spain  and  to  become  its  viceroy, 
with  power  to  transmit  the  office  to  his  posterity.  He 
returned  to  Spain  with  the  news  of  his  discovery,  but 
went  back  once  and  again  to  pursue  his  search  for  India, 
expecting  to  find  some  gate  through  these  western  islands 
to  that  country.  How  strong  was  his  hope  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  on  his  third  and  last  voyage  he  took  with 
him  Arabic  interpreters,  so  that  when  he  met  any  Moham- 
medans— at  that  time  the  rulers  of  India— he  would  be 
able  to  hold  conversations  with  them  in  a  language  un- 
derstood by  all  followers  of  Mohammed. 

We  can  scarcely  imagine  the  ignorance  of  those  times. 
In  1502,  Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa,  a  Spanish  explorer, 
climbed  to  the  top  of  the  mountains  on  the  Isthmus  of 


A  HIDDEN  CONTINENT.  19 

Darien  and  looked  off  over  the  vast  expanse  of  water 
toward  the  west,  never  realizing  that  he  had  discovered  a 
new  ocean  or  that  the  peak  on  which  he  stood  formed  part 
of  the  backbone  of  a  new  world.  For  many  years  after 
the  western  shore  of  the  Atlantic  was  discovered  all  who 
landed  upon  it  supposed  they  were  in  some  part  of  Asia. 
They  called  those  countries  "  the  West  Indies,"  and  the 
people  of  both  North  and  >South  America  "  Indians." 

In  1502,  Columbus  was  earnestly  examining  the  coast 
of  Central  America,  hoping  to  find  some  passage  like  the 
Straits  of  Gibraltar  which  would  prove  to  be  the  long- 
looked-for  gateway  to  the  laud  of  gold.  Indeed,  so 
eager  was  he  in  this  vain  pursuit  that  he  lost  sight  of 
everything  else. 

It  was  during  this  voyage  that  Europeans  obtained 
their  first  glimpse  of  Mexican  wealth  and  civilization. 
One  party  from  the  little  squadron  had  landed  on  an 
island  near  Cape  Honduras  to  obtain  a  supply  of  fresh 
water.  While  on  the  beach  they  saw  a  canoe  of  unusu- 
al size  making  its  way  toward  the  point  on  which  they 
stood.  Its  passengers  and  crew  made  a  large  company ; 
they  seemed  to  be  strangers,  and  to  have  come  from  a 
long  distance.  Fernando  Columbus,  who  was  with  his 
father  at  the  time,  describes  the  boat  as  "eight  feet  wide 
and  as  long  as  a  galley,  though  formed  of  the  trunk  of 
a  single  tree  and  shaped  like  those  common  in  the 
islands.  In  the  middle  of  the  canoe  there  was  an 
awning  made  of  palm-leaves,  not  unlike  those  of  the 
Venetian  gondolas,  which  formed  so  close  a  covering 
as  to  protect  whatever  it  contained  against  the  raiii  and 
waves.  Under  this  awning  were  women  and  children, 
goods  and  merchandise.  The  canoe  was  rowed  by 
twenty-five  men." 


20  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

The  admiral  gave  thanks  to  God  for  having  afforded 
him  samples  of  the  commodities  of  those  countries  with- 
out exposing  his  men  to  toil  or  danger.  He  ordered 
such  things  to  be  taken  as  seemed  most  valuable, 
amongst  which  were  cotton  coverlets  and  tunics  with- 
out sleeves,  curiously  worked  and  dyed  with  various 'col- 
ors ;  coverings  for  the  loins,  of  similar  material ;  large 
mantles,  in  which  the  female  Indians  wrapped  them- 
selves like  the  Moorish  women  of  Granada ;  long  wooden 
swords  with  channels  on  each  side  of  the  blade,  edged 
with  sharp  flints  that  cut  the  naked  body  as  well  as 
steel ;  copper  hatchets  for  cutting  wood,  bells  of  the 
same  metal,  and  crucibles  in  which  to  melt  the  metal. 
For  provisions  they  had  roots  and  grains,  a  sort  of  wine 
made  of  maize,  resembling  English  beer,  and  great  quan- 
tities of  almonds  *  of  the  kind  used  by  the  people  of  New 
Spain  for  money. 

The  Spaniards  were  very  much  struck  by  the  modest 
bearing  of  these  new  comers,  and  considered  them  su- 
perior to  any  natives  they  had  yet  seen.  Columbus 
ordered  their  canoe  to  be  restored  to  them,  with  Euro- 
pean goods  in  exchange  for  those  he  had  taken.  He 
then  let  them  all  go  except  one  old  man  who  was 
more  intelligent  than  the  rest,  and  who  seemed  to 
be  their  chief — or  cacique,  as  such  a  person  is  called 
in  Spanish  histories  of  the  New  World.  This  cacique 
could  understand  the  language  spoken  in  Honduras,  and 
through  his  interpreters  from  that  country  Columbus 
heard  about  the  old  man's  home  at  the  west. 

The  historian  adds :  "  Although  the  admiral  had  heard 
so  much  from  the  Indians  concerning  the  wealth,  polite- 
ness and  ingenuity  of  these  people,  yet,  considering  that 
*  Cacao-beans,  of  which  chocolate  is  made. 


A  HIDDEN  CONTINENT.  21 

these  countries  lay  to  leeward,  and  he  could  sail  thither 
from  Cuba  whenever  he  might  think  fit,  he  determined 
to  leave  them  for  another  occasion,  and  persisted  in  his 
design  of  endeavoring  to  discover  the  strait  across  the 
continent,  that  he  might  open  the  navigation  of  the 
South  Sea,  in  order  to  arrive  at  the  spice  countries." 

How  absorbed  Columbus  was  we  may  know  when  we 
read  the  whole  story  of  this  neglected  opportunity;  for 
such  it  proved  to  be.  The  natives  of  Honduras  had 
pictured  Mexico  as  rich  and  populous  beyond  all  com- 
parison. They  dazzled  the  Spaniards  with  stories  of 
people  who  could  afford  to  wear  as  their  ordinary  ap- 
parel crowns  and  bracelets  and  anklets  of  gold,  with 
garments  heavy  with  golden  embroidery ;  of  others,  who 
had  chairs  and  tables  inlaid  with  gold,  and  who  ate  and 
tlrauk  out  of  vessels  of  the  same  precious  metal.  They 
professed  to  be  familiar  with  Indian  coral  and  the  spices 
which  had  made  the  trade  with  India  so  valuable  to 
Spain.  Everything  in  their  own  land  of  which  the 
Spaniards  boasted  these  Indians  claimed  would  be  found 
in  that  wonderful  country  toward  the  setting  sun.  Even 
the  ships  and  cannon  and  horses  with  which  they  had 
been  at  first  so  astonished  actually  figured  in  some  of 
these  fancy-sketches  of  Mexico. 

But,  though  Columbus  was  convinced  that  he  was  in 
the  neighborhood  of  a  rich  and  civilized  people,  he  had 
no  time  to  stop  by  the  way  until  he  had  fulfilled  his 
great  commission  from  Heaven  to  enrich  the  Church  from 
the  treasures  of  India,  and  to  set  up  the  standard  of 
Christ  among  its  heathen  people.  He  supposed  that  he 
was  near  one  of  the  provinces  of  Tartary  and  that  he 
would  soon  reach  the  Ganges,  and  he  was  fired  with  a 
holy  ambition  to  be  the  first  son  of  the  Church  who 


22  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

should  tell  the  story  of  redemption  on  the  banks  of  this 
sacred  river  of  the  Hindus.  He  did  not  dream  that  be- 
tween him  and  the  object  of  his  search  two  continents 
stretched  their  vast  length  almost  from  one  polar  circle 
to  another,  and  that  behind  them  rolled  the  widest  ocean 
in  the  world. 

It  was  with  this  great  purpose  in  view  that  Columbus 
resolutely  turned  away  from  this  half-opened  door  to 
Mexico  and  left  the  discovery  and  conquest  of  that 
country  to  a  man  who  had  the  same  idea  of  going  west- 
ward to  India,  and  the  same  desire  to  bring  the  heathen 
into  the  fold  of  the  Church,  but  who  had  time  to  turn 
aside  to  take  possession  of  all  the  gold-mines  that  opened 
along  his  way. 

We  need  not  turn  our  back  on  Mexico  because  Colum- 
bus did.  Let  us  lift  the  veil  by  which  it  was  so  long 
hidden  from  the  European  world  and  look  at  this  beau- 
tiful land  as  it  appeared 

BEFORE   THE   CONQUEST. 

Mexico,  which  occupies  the  tapering  southern  end  of 
North  America,  was  then  held  by  various  tribes,  the 
chief  of  which  were  called  "Aztecs."  Yucatan,  which 
had  recently  been  brought  under  tribute  by  these  warlike 
people,  was  the  southern  limit  of  their  conquest.  Their 
other  boundaries  are  unknown  save  that  with  different 
kindred  tribes  they  occupied  all  of  what  is  now  known 
as  Mexico. 

For  grandeur  of  scenery  and  variety  of  climate  and 
productions  this  country  is  unsurpassed  by  any  other 
on  the  globe.  The  great  mountain-chain  which  runs 
along  the  Pacific  shore  of  both  continents  widens  out  in 
this  region  into  lofty  table-lands.  One  of  these,  called 


POPOCATAPETL    ("THE   HILL,  THAT  SMOKES "). 


24  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

the  "  Valley  of  Mexico,"  is  nearly  one  thousand  square 
miles  in  extent  and  from  five  thousand  to  eight  thousand 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  Three  hundred  years 
ago  one-tenth  part  of  this  plateau  was  covered  with 
lakes,  both  salt  and  fresh.  These  have  dwindled  in  size 
since  those  early  days,  probably  because  the  surrounding 
hills  have  been  stripped  by  the  invaders  almost  bare  of 
the  luxuriant  forests  which  once  covered  them.  Lofty 
hills  form  a  rampart  on  three  sides  of  this  table-land. 
On  the  north  it  opens  out  on  a  great  natural  road  lead- 
ing along  the  level  mountain-tops  for  a  distance  of 
twelve  hundred  miles.  It  *vas  probably  along  this 
great  highway  that  many  of  the  early  settlers  of  Mex- 
ico came  from  their  homes  at  the  North. 

Rising  out  of  this  vast  mountain-mass  are  snow-capped 
peaks,  one  of  which — the  highest  land  on  our  continent 
— is  a  mile  and  a  half  higher  than  the  lofty  platform  on 
which  it  stands.  Along  the  nineteenth  parallel  of  lati- 
tude rise  five  volcanoes.  Two  of  these  overlooked  the 
Aztec  capital  and  bore  the  Indian  names  they  still  hold. 
Popocatapetl — "  the  hill  that  smokes  " — has  been  doing 
its  best  to  deserve  that  title  ever  since  it  received  it; 
Iztaccihuatl — "  the  woman  in  white  " — is  so  called  from 
its  fancied  resemblance  to  the  form  of  a  woman  lying 
with  her  face  upturned  to  the  sky,  a  snowy  robe  folded 
across  her  breast. 

Descending  on  each  side  from  this  rocky  platform  to 
the  sea,  the  traveler  passes  over  three  great  natural  ter- 
races, each  of  which  has  a  diiferent  climate  and  produc- 
tions differing  with  the  elevation.  In  the  Aztec  country, 
which  lay  entirely  within  the  tropics,  the  whole  scale  of 
vegetation  could  be  found.  Forests  of  evergreen  oaks 
and  pine  flourished  on  the  mountains,  below  the  snow- 


A  HIDDEN  CONTINENT. 


25 


line,  with  wheat  and  other  northern  cereals.  Below 
these,  in  richer  variety,  were  the  flowers  and  fruits  of 
the  temperate  zone.  Maize,  which  is  found  everywhere 
in  Mexico,  attains  its  most  luxuriant  growth  in  this  mild- 
er climate.  The  cactus  family  grows  in  almost  endless 
forms,  the  maguey  with  its  rich  yellow  clusters  of  flowers, 
and  other  trees  and  plants  native  to  this  soil. 


PLANTATION  OF  MAGUEY  (Agave  Americana). 

The  mountains  are  often  cleft  by  deep  ravines  in  which 
Nature  revels  in  moisture  and  warmth  and  brings  out 
her  richest  vegetable  treasures.  Magnificent  trees  root- 
ed far  below  lift  their  heads  into  the  sunshine,  and  flow- 
ering vines  clamber  everywhere  in  a  wilderness  of  beau- 
ty and  fragrance.  Gay  butterflies  glance  in  the  sunlight 
like  blossoms  on  the  wing.  Air  and  earth  are  alive  with 
myriad  insects,  while  birds  as  rich  in  flashing  plumage  as 
any  gem  in  all  the  mines  of  Mexico  enliven  the  woods 
with  songs  unheard  in  other  tropical  countries.  Some 


26  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

of  the  most  beautiful  garden-flowers  came  from  this 
land.  They  were  first  carried  to  Europe  by  visitors  to 
Mexico,  and  thence,  after  being  domesticated  in  the  old 
gardens  of  Spain  and  France,  they  have  found  their 
way  back  to  their  native  continent  as  emigrants  from 
the  Old  World.  All  the  dahlias  can  trace  lineage  to  some 
gay  beauties  that  once  grew  on  these  mountain-top  mead- 
ows of  Mexico.  It  was  years  before  they  could  be  civ- 
ilized enough  to  dress  in  double  sets  of  petals,  and  the 
gardeners  of  this  day  have  only  to  let  them  alone  for  a 
while,  and  they  go  back  to  their  wild  Mexican  sin- 
gleness. 

It  is  in  the  low  lands  along  the  sea  that  we  find  the 
luxuriance  and  variety  of  tropical  vegetation.  "Even 
the  sand-dunes,"  says  a  recent  writer,  "  blaze  in  color, 
lupines  in  high  waving  masses  of  white,  yellow  and 
blue,  great  mats  of  glittering  ice-plants  with  myriads  of 
rose-colored  umbels,  lying  flat  on  the  white  sand,  while 
all  the  air  is  sweet  with  fragrance." 

Here  were  multitudes  of  plants  which  are  at  home 
only  in  Mexico.  Among  them  was  the  cacao,  from 
which  the  natives  prepared  their  delicious  chocolate,  and 
whose  seeds  passed  from  hand  to  hand  instead  of  coin. 
The  vanilla,  which  grew  only  on  the  seashore,  was  used 
then  as  now  for  flavoring.  The  cochineal  was  also 
raised  on  the  coast ;  it  was  the  insect  which  fed  on  the 
leaves  of  a  cactus-plant.  From  the  dried  body  of  the 
female  was  procured  a  brilliant  red  color  much  used  by 
the  Aztecs  in  dyeing  their  cotton  cloth. 

Next  to  the  bamboo,  there  is  probably  no  plant  which 
can  be  used  in  so  many  ways  as  the  Mexican  agave,  or 
maguey.  Of  its  bruised  leaves  were  made  broad  sheets 
of  paper,  on  which  the  most  of  Mexican  history  was 


A  HIDDEN  CONTINENT.  27 

written.  Prepared  in  another  way,  these  leaves  thatched 
the  poor  man's  cottage.  Its  thorns  served  for  pins  and 
needles ;  its  delicate  fibres,  for  thread ;  and  those  which 
were  heavier  were  twisted  into  cords  or  ropes.  From 
its  roots  a  palatable  and  nutritious  food  was  prepared, 
while  its  juices,  when  fermented,  made  an  intoxicating 
liquor  ou  which  the  old  Aztecs  were  accustomed  to  get 
drunk. 

On  the  coasts  there  were  also  forests  of  mahogany, 
Brazil-wood,  iron-wood,  ebony,  Campeachy-wood,  with 
numberless  varieties  of  the  palm  tree.  These  forests 
swarmed  with  small  animals,  such  as  tapirs,  porcupines, 
ant-eaters,  sloths,  monkeys  and  armadillos,  with  alliga- 
tors in  the  streams.  Scorpions,  centipedes  and  other 
venomous  creatures  abounded  everywhere.  The  silk- 
worm also  is  indigenous  to  many  parts  of  the  country. 

Mexico  has  few  rivers  of  great  length,  and  these  are 
navigable  only  where  they  cross  the  narrow  belt  of  low- 
land to  reach  the  sea. 

The  mineral  wealth  of  Mexico  exceeded  that  of  any 
other  land,  not  excepting  Peru,  so  famed  for  its  precious 
metals.  Gold  was  once  the  staple  production  of  the 
country,  as  silver  is  now.  It  was  found  in  placers,  and 
was  more  easily  worked  than  silver.  With  all  that 
natives  and  foreigners  have  taken  out  of  the  earth,  it  is 
supposed  that  many  valuable  mines  remain  to  be  dis- 
covered. Of  iron  the  natives  knew  nothing,  though 
mountains  of  solid  ore  were  found  when  the  Spaniards 
opened  this  great  mineral  storehouse.  Tin  is  abundant 
in  Michoacan  and  Jalisco.  Copper  is  very  common,  and 
lead  is  found  in  almost  every  silver-mine.  In  Oajaca  are 
found  amethysts,  agates,  turquoises  and  carnelians. 

The  beautiful  marbles  of  Mexico  have  been  used  for 


28  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

building  purposes  from  time  immemorial.  The  natives 
employed  porphyry  and  jasper  in  decoration.  Various 
kinds  of  greenstone  resembling  emeralds  were  found, 
and  were  in  great  demand  for  ornaments.  Amber  came 
from  Yucatan,  and  pearls  from  California.  The  salt- 
lakes  of  the  table-land  yielded  abundance  of  that  pre- 
cious commodity,  which  formed  a  chief  article  of  com- 
merce between  the  people  of  that  region  and  less  favored 
tribes. 


CHAPTER  II. 

EARLY  SETTLERS  OF  MEXICO. 

AMONG  the  pictures  carved  on  the  ancient  monu- 
-£*-  ments  in  Mexico  are  those  which  represent  Votan, 
whose  history  belongs  to  the  earliest  dawn  of  civilization 
in  this  Western  world.  He  and  his  companions  are  said 
to  have  come  from  a  foreign  land  in  ships.  They  found 
the  people,  from  the  Isthmus  to  California,  clothed  in 
skins,  dwelling  in  caves  or  rude  huts  and  speaking  one 
language.  There  are  evidences  that  Votan  brought  with 
him  to  this  continent  a  knowledge  of  the  one  true  God, 
which  he  taught  to  the  people.  As  we  are  further  told 
in  these  traditions  that  no  temples  or  altars  were  known 
in  Votan's  day,  he  must  have  lived  before  the  Mexican 
pyramids  were  built,  since  these  all  seem  to  be  designed 
for  places  of  worship. 

Votan  and  his  friends  married  the  women  of  the 
country,  and  after  establishing  a  government  they  made 
several  voyages  to  their  native  land.  On  his  return  from 
one  of  these  trips  Votan  reported  that  he  had  been  to  see 
the  ruins  of  a  building  erected  by  men  who  intended  to 
climb  up  on  it  to  heaven,  and  that  the  people  who  lived 
in  its  neighborhood  said  that  it  was  the  place  where  God 
gave  to  each  family  its  own  language. 

Who  were  these  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  America 
whom  Votan  taught,  and  when  was  it  that  they  emerged 
from  their  caves  and  huts  to  gaze  on  these  first  white 

29 


30  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

men  who  came  to  this  continent?  At  some  time  in 
their  history  they  no  doubt  migrated  from  Central  Asia, 
that  cradle  of  the  human  race.  As  to  when  or  by  what 
road  they  found  their  way  to  America  we  cannot  be  so 
sure.  A  glance  at  the  map  of  the  world  will  show  that 
away  up  among  the  icebergs  of  the  polar  circle  the  north- 
western corner  of  America  comes  so  near  the  north-east- 
ern corner  of  Asia  that  their  outlying  islands  seem  like 
stepping-stones  from  one  continent  to  the  other.  The 
Alaskan  Indians,  on  our  side,  and  their  neighbors  in 
Siberia,  now  find  no  difficulty  in  crossing  Behring's 
Straits  in  their  little  kyacks,  and  it  is  more  than  proba- 
ble that  in  the  far-away  past  of  which  Mexican  records 
tell,  some  of  the  wandering  tribes  of  the  Old  World 
found  their  way  to  this  continent  by  this  northern 
road. 

We  hear  now  of  small  colonies  of  Japanese  on  our 
western  coast  who  have  come  over  by  still  another  route, 
which  can  be  seen  on  maps  that  give  the  direction  of  the 
ocean -currents.  One  of  these  great  sea-rivers  runs  north 
through  the  Pacific  Ocean  quite  near  the  eastern  shore  of 
Asia  until  it  is  opposite  Japan;  then,  turning  suddenly, 
it  sweeps  due  east  until  it  strikes  the  coast  of  California. 
The  people  of  Asia  occasionally  drift  over  to  America  on 
this  ocean-current.  Uprooted  trees  of  kinds  which  do 
not  grow  on  this  continent  are  found  on  the  shore,  and 
Japanese  junks  are  stranded  at  the  rate  of  about  one 
every  year,  and  sometimes,  it  is  said,  with  some  of 
their  shipwrecked  crew  still  alive. 

It  is  probable  that  other  civilized  people  succeeded 
Votan  in  the  possession  of  Mexico,  but  until  some  time 
in  the  tenth  century  no  one  of  them  was  described.  At 
that  period  a  new  nation  made  its  appearance  among 


EARLY  SETTLERS  OF  MEXICO.  31 

the  shadowy  races  with  which  the  land  was  peopled. 
Tradition  says  they  were  white  men  who  came  from  the 
north-east  in  companies,  some  by  sea  and  some  by  land  ; 
twenty  thousand  of  these  emigrants,  led  by  a  dignified 
old  chief,  are  said  to  have  come  at  once.  They  are  de- 
scribed as  a  good-looking  people,  wearing  long  white 
tunics,  sandals  and  straw  hats.  They  were  mostly 
farmers  and  skilled  mechanics,  and  were  peaceable, 
orderly  and  enterprising.  They  had  left  their  own 
land,  Huehue-Tlapallan,  after  a  struggle  of  years  with 
the  barbarous  tribes  around  them,  and  made  their  way 
south  to  Mexico — a  country  with  which  it  is  probable 
they  had  been  familiar  as  traders.  Many  suppose  that 
these  immigrants  were  the  same  people  as  the  Mound- 
Builders  of  our  own  country — that  strange,  nameless 
race  whose  earthworks  astonish  the  archaeologist  of  to- 
day. Tools  which  these  old  workmen  left  behind  them 
in  the  Ohio  Valley  and  elsewhere  are  made  of  a  kind  of 
flint  which  is  not  found  nearer  than  Mexico.  Shells 
which  must  have  come  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  have 
also  been  found  buried  in  the  graves  of  the  Mound- 
Builders,  showing  that  ages  ago  these  people  must  have 
trafficked  with  those  who  lived  along  its  shores.  When 
war  disturbed  them  in  their  home  at  the  North,  the  more 
enterprising  of  them  migrated  to  Mexico  and  built  cities 
and  temples  on  the  same  general  plan  as  those  erected  by 
their  forefathers,  but  of  so  much  more  substantial  mate- 
rials that  many  of  them  have  outlasted  the  centuries  which 
have  come  and  gone  since  they  appeared  among  the  south- 
ern tribes.  These  people  went  by  the  name  of  "  Toltecs" 
among  their  Mexican  neighbors  and  successors.  When 
the  later  tribes  came  to  have  a  written  history — as  they 
did  about  four  hundred  years  afterward — they  ascribed 


32  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

all  that  they  knew  of  civilization  to  those  who  pre- 
ceded them. 

The  Toltecs  filled  the  land  with  colossal  masonry. 
Many  of  the  temples,  pyramids,  castles  and  aqueducts 
which  were  in  decay  when  Cortez  arrived,  in  1519,  are 
supposed  to  have  been  built  by  these  people.  The  half- 
buried  ruins  of  Tula,  or  Tullan,  one  of  their  great  cities, 
may  still  have  been  inhabited  at  the  time  of  the  conquest, 
but  most  of  the  places  known  to  have  been  built  by- them 
were  numbered  among  the  antiquities  of  Mexico  when 
Columbus  was  near  that  laud,  more  than  twenty  years 
before. 

In  Xochimilco  is  found  a  great  pyramid  with  five 
terraces,  built  on  a  platform  of  solid  rock.  This  rock 
has  been  hollowed  out,  and  long  galleries  with  smooth, 
glistening  sides  formed  within  it.  The  great  pyramid  of 
Cholula,  built  by  the  early  race,  covered  forty-five  acres 
of  ground  and  was  fourteen  hundred  feet  square  at  the  base. 
A  winding  road  led  to  its  top,  which  was  flat,  with  small 
towers  for  worship.  All  these  structures  were  built  with 
their  sides  squared  by  the  points  of  the  compass.  They 
are  now  found  buried  in  the  depths  of  vast  forests,  far 
away  from  the  haunts  of  civilized  men.  As  the  Indians 
always  seem  unwilling  to  reveal  the  secret  of  their  ex- 
istence, many  of  these  are  no  doubt  yet  unknown  to  the 
white  race. 

The  temple  of  Papantla,  fifty  miles  from  Vera  Cruz, 
was  hidden  in  the  dense  woods  west  of  that  city  for  more 
than  two  hundred  years  after  the  Spaniards  landed  on 
the  coast,  having  been  discovered  by  a  party  of  hunters 
in  1790.  This  building  is  so  old  that  those  who  could 
decipher  the  picture-language  of  the  Aztecs  could  not 
interpret  tl.e  inscriptions  on  its  terraced  sides,  though 


34  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

when  found  the  characters  were  almost  as  fresh  as  when 
the  ancient  sculptors  laid  down  their  tools.  It  is  built 
of  immense  blocks  of  porphyry  put  together  with  mor- 
tar. A  stairway  of  fifty-seven  steps  leads  to  the  top, 
which  is  sixty  feet  square.  The  stone  facing  of  the  sides 
is  covered  with  hieroglyphics  of  serpents,  crocodiles,  and 
other  emblems  which  remind  one  of  the  monuments  of 
ancient  Egypt.  Some,  indeed,  have  supposed  that  the 
builders  of  the  old  Mexican  pyramids  belonged  to  the 
same  family  of  nations,  and  have  even  gone  so  far  as  to 
say  that  some  of  the  work  they  left  is  as  old  as  that  of 
Egypt.  Humboldt,  who  visited  some  of  these  ruins, 
traced  their  resemblance  not  only  to  Egyptian  but  to 
Assyrian  architecture,  and  says  of  their  decaying  pal- 
aces, "  They  equaled  those  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome 
in  ornamentation." 

About  four  hundred  years  passed  away,  and  the  Toltecs 
disappeared  from  Mexico ;  war,  pestilence  and  famine  did 
their  work  among  these  interesting  people.  They  left  ac- 
counts of  their  nation  and  polity  in  carefully  written  or 
pictured  histories,  some  of  which  were  extant  when  Cor- 
tez  came ;  none  of  them  can  now  be  found.  One  of  the 
early  Aztec  chieftains  made  a  bonfire  of  some  of  these 
books,  and  the  Spaniards,  in  their  fanatical  zeal  to  blot 
out  all  traces  of  heathenism,  destroyed  libraries  of  these 
and  other  valuable  records  which  would  now  be  worth 
more  to  the  world  than  all  the  monkish  legends  that 
ever  were  written. 

But  there  was  much  that  could  not  be  blotted  out. 
The  Aztec  measurement  of  time — more  perfect  ihan  any 
known  to  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans — was  taught  to 
them  by  these  old  astrologers,  who  seem  to  have  known 
the  precise  length  of  the  tropical  year.  The  ingenious 


EARLY  SETTLERS  OF  MEXICO.  35 

system  of  picture-writing  in  use  among  all  the  tribes,  the 
more  enlightened  of  their  laws  and  the  most  refined  and 
humane  part  of  their  worship  were  a  legacy  from  their 
Toltec  predecessors. 

Very  strong  light  is  often  thrown  on  the  past  by  the 
history  of  a  single  word  ;  the  name  "  Toltec  "  is  an  in- 
stance of  this.  While  many  other  Mexicans  were  yet 
wandering  tribes  these  people  came  to  the  valley  and 
began  to  build  the  large  edifices  for  which  they  have 
since  become  famous,  and  to  carve  the  symbols  of  their 
faith  on  the  solid  rocks  about  them.  Their  rude  neigh- 
bors looked  on  with  wonder.  They  had  no  word  of  their 
own  to  express  the  new  and  strange  character  of  a  builder; 
and  when  they  had  need  to  speak  of  such  a  man,  they 
called  him  a  Toltec. 


CHAPTEE   III. 

THE  VALLEY  REPEOPLED. 

AMONG  those  who  became  masters  of  the  great  table- 
-£*-  land  of  Anahuac  *  after  the  disappearance  of  the 
Toltecs  were  several  kindred  tribes  called  Nahuas,  or 
"  skilled  ones,"  who  claimed  to  have  entered  Mexico  at 
different  times  from  some  place  at  the  North.  Their 
civilization,  which  made  them  differ  from  those  tribes 
that  lived  by  the  chase,  was  shown  by  their  giving  up 
their  wandering  life  and  settling  down,  one  after  another, 
as  neighbors  around  Tezcuco,  the  largest  lake  on  the  table- 
land of  Mexico.  Thus  they  became  what  is  known  as 
sedentary,  or  pueblo  ("village"),  Indians.  These  peo- 
ple, like  other  North  American  tribes,  have  straight 
black  hair,  with  a  fondness  for  paint,  feathers  and  gew- 
gaws. Their  nahuatl — the  wrord  for  language — meant 
"pleasant  sound."  This  varied  as  much  then  among 
different  tribes  as  is  now  the  case  in  Mexico,  where  the 
people  of  one  Indian  village  (especially  the  women)  speak 
a  language  which  those  in  another — not  ten  miles  distant, 
perhaps — cannot  understand,  although  they  have  been 
neighbors  for  a  century. 

Like  all  Indian  languages,  Aztec  proper  names  had 
a  meaning  and  were  easily  written  in  rude  signs  or  pict- 
ures.    Thus  the  name  of  the  great  chief  Nezacoyatl,  or 
"  Hungry  Fox,"  was  expressed  by  a  picture  of  a  fox, 
*  Meaning  "  near  the  water." 


THE   VALLEY  EEPEOPLED.  37 

and  its  image,  carved  in  stone,  in  his  lordly  pleasure- 
grounds  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Tezcuco,  gave  the  title 
and  the  history  of  the  owner. 

By  giving  our  readers  the  English  signification  of 
these  names  they  will  have  some  advantages  possessed  by 
old  Mexican  readers,  who,  it  is  likely,  would  have  stum- 
bled as  often  as  we  do  over  the  spelling,  if  not  over  the 
pronunciation,  of  these  words.  Thus,  for  instance, 
Quetzalcohuatl  (ketzalcowatile),  a  hero-saint  who  figures 
in  Mexican  history,  shall  be  "  Feathered  Serpent,"  and, 
instead  of  Huitizilapochtli — that  frightful  name  for  their 
still  more  frightful  war-god — we  will  say  "  Humming- 
Bird,"  which  is  the  decidedly  mild  interpretation  thereof. 

The  Aztec  tribe  with  which  our  story  has  most  to  do 
were  among  the  latest  arrivals  on  the  great  table-lands  of 
Mexico.  A  curious  map  of  their  migrations  before  they 
came  there  was  still  in  existence  when  the  Europeans 
overran  the  country.  It  was  so  different  from  the  maps 
in  use  in  Spain  that  the  Spanish  soldiers  who  captured  it 
supposed  it  was  an  Aztec  embroidery-pattern,  and  sent  it 
as  such  to  the  old  country.  They  also  had  a  history  of 
the  tribe  in  picture-writing.  This  declares  that  Mexico 
was  peopled  by  men  who  came  out  of  a  cave  and  after- 
ward traveled  all  over  the  country  on  the  backs  of  turtles. 
Aztlan,  the  home  of  the  Aztecs,  was  written  with  all,  a 
waved  line  (~  — ) — their  picture-sign  for  water — put 
beside  one  of  a  pyramidal  temple  and  a  palm  tree.  We 
may  know  by  the  latter  picture  that  Aztlan  was  not  very 
far  to  the  north. 

The  Aztecs  were  a  band  of  fierce  savages  who  took 
refuge  in  the  swamps  near  the  site  of  the  present  City  of 
Mexico  after  a  migratory  life  elsewhere.  It  is  quite  pos- 
sible to  fix  the  date  of  this  last  remove  by  records  kept 


38  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

by  their  more  intelligent  neighbors.  A  few  of  the  Tol- 
tecs  no  doubt  remained  in  the  valley,  and  they  had  taught 
the  Alcohuans — a  tribe  which  preceded  the  Aztecs — who 
afterward  became  the  most  cultured  people  in  Mexico. 
Their  calculations  were  thus  exact  euough  to  guide  us  in 
ours,  so  that  we  know  that  the  Aztecs  entered  the  Valley 
of  Mexico  early  in  the  fourteenth  century.  Their  rec- 
ords also  show  that  at  that  time  the  Aztecs  were  com- 
posed of  seven  related  families,  or  clans,  each  one  of 
which  formed  a  little  community  guided  by  its  own 
chief,  and  all  bearing  the  same  surname.  In  other 
words,  there  were  only  seven  surnames  in  the  whole 
tribe. 

From  the  outset  these  new  comers  were  considered 
intruders,  and  were  obliged  to  content  themselves  witli 
a  precarious  footing  ou  the  neutral  ground  by  which,  in 
Indian  fashion,  the  settlements  of  their  neighbors  were 
surrounded.  They  lived  on  fish,  birds  and  such  water- 
plants  as  grew  in  the  swamp,  as  well  as  by  predatory  raids 
on  the  peaceful  farmers  around  them.  While  they  were 
still  in  this  unsettled  state  the  oracle  of  the  tribe  is  re- 
ported to  have  spoken  for  Humming- Bird,  their  war- 
god,  in  this  wise: 

"  I  was  sent  on  this  journey,  and  my  office  it  is  to 
carry  arms,  bows,  arrows  and  shields.  War  is  my  chief 
duty  and  the  object  of  my  coming.  I  have  to  look  out 
in  all  directions,  and  with  my  body,  head  and  arms  have 
to  do  my  duty  in  many  tribes,  being  on  the  borders  and 
lying  in  wait  for  many  nations  to  maintain  and  gather 
them,  though  not  graciously." 

We  can  picture  in  imagination  the  wily  old  medicine- 
man who  made  this  speech,  and  thus  fixed  the  policy  of 
the  tribe  on  a  distinctively  war-basis. 


THE   VALLEY  REPEOPLED.  39 

In  1325,  as  \ve  learn  from  their  old  records,  a  great 
change  took  place  in  the  condition  of  the  Aztecs.  Some 
of  the  tribe  saw  on  a  reedy  island  on  the  lake  a  splendid 
eagle  perched  on  one  of  the  cactus-plants  with  which  the 
region  abounds.  His  wings  were  outstretched  toward  the 
rising  sun,  and  he  held  a  writhing  serpent  in  his  beak. 
The  old  oracle  of  the  tribe  was  consulted  again.  He  de- 
cided that  this  was  a  token  that  the  gods  were  smiling  on 
the  Aztecs  and  wished  to  point  out  this  place  as  a  site  on 
which  they  ought  to  build  a  city.  This  was  begun  by- 
sinking  piles  in  the  water.  On  these  they  first  built  little 
thatched  cabins,  with  walls  woven  out  of  the  reeds  they 
found  growing  on  the  lake-shore,  and  plastered  with  mud. 
They  called  the  place  Tenochtitlan  (or  "Stone-cactus 
City"),  either  because  of  this  circumstance  or  because  one 
of  their  leading  chiefs  was  called  Tenoch  ("  Stone  Cac- 
tus ").  The  Aztec  capital — for  such  it  became — was 
afterward  named  Mexico,  after  Mexitli,  one  of  their  gods. 

Year  after  year,  as  the  tribe  pushed  out  and  increased 
in  numbers  and  wealth,  the  islands  on  which  they  lived 
were  linked  together  and  to  the  mainland  by  strong  cause- 
ways of  stone.  The  place  Mexitli  became  impregnable  to 
Indian  warfare.  They  continued  by  means  of  their  long 
dykes  not  only  to  join  the  island  to  the  mainland,  but  so 
to  pen  up  the  waters  flowing  into  the  lake  as  to  surround 
the  city  with  deep  water,  and  thus  defend  it  in  case  of  a 
siege.  At  intervals  sluices  were  cut  through  the  cause- 
ways, over  wrhich  openings  bridges  were  thrown  that 
could  be  taken  up  in  time  of  war. 

It  is  probable  that  for  many  years  the  tribe  owned  no 
other  land  than  that  on  which  their  city  stood.  It  was 
divided  into  four  quarters,  or  calputti,  each  having  its 
own  chief  and  temple,  council-house,  and  other  public 


40  ABOUT  MEXICO, 

buildings.  These  calputti  were  afterward  further  sub- 
divided into  communities,  each  living  in  houses  large 
enough  to  contain  a  small  army.  The  rush  huts  in  time 
gave  place  to  more  substantial  edifices,  many  of  which 
were  elegant  in  design  and  finish.  In  Montezuma's 
day  a  quarry  of  soft  blood-red  stone  almost  as  porous  as 
a  sponge  was  discovered  in  the  mountains  near  by,  and 
many  of  the  houses  in  the  city  were  rebuilt  of  this  with 
fine  effect. 

The  city  was  regularly  laid  out,  with  wide,  straight, 
clean  streets  radiating  from  the  central  teocallis,  or  house 
of  the  gods  (a  plan  which  was  followed  throughout  Mex- 
ico), and  numerous  and  beautiful  squares.  One  of 
these,  the  principal  market-place  of  the  city,  was  sur- 
rounded by  splendid  corridors  so  smoothly  paved  that 
they  were  as  slippery  as  ice.  Like  Venice,  the  city  was 
veined  with  canals,  along  which  the  produce  of  the  coun- 
try was  borne  in  numberless  boats  into  its  very  centre. 

A  massive  stone  aqueduct  brought  an  abundance  of 
pure  water  from  a  large  spring  at  Chapultepec,  a  few 
miles  distant.  Immense  reservoirs  cut  out  of  solid  rock, 
with  steps  leading  down  to  the  level  of  the  water,  still 
remain  to  show  the  substantial  character  of  Aztec  masonry 
and  enterprise.  Where  the  branch  streams  of  this  aque- 
duct crossed  the  canals  they  were  widened  and  left  open 
on  top,  so  that  the  carriers  who  served  out  water  to  fam- 
ilies could  bring  their  canoes  directly  under  these  bridge- 
like  reservoirs  to  be  filled,  the  water  being  dipped  out  for 
them  by  a  man  stationed  above. 

The  houses  of  the  better  class  in  Mexico  were  built  of 
stone  and  were  seldom  over  two  stories  in  height ;  they 
covered  a  great  deal  of  ground,  having  large  courtyards 
in  the  centre.  The  roofs  were  flat  and  terraced,  the  Avails 


THE    VALLEY  REPEOPLED.  41 

well  whitened  and  polished,  and  the  floors  made  of  the 
smoothest  plaster  and  neatly  matted.  All  the  walls  were 
very  thick  and  strong,  the  ceilings  being  high  and  gen- 
erally of  wood.  Doors  were  almost  unknown  and  chim- 
neys unheard  of. 

The  houses  were  usually  kept  very  neatly.  Walls 
wrere  hung  with  cotton  drapery  in  bright  colors  and 
curious  feather-work.  The  beds  were  often  curtained 
and  quite  comfortable.  Though  chairs  and  tables  were 
not  found  even  in  the  so-called  palace  of  Montezuma, 
there  were  low  seats  which  were  easy  as  well  as  elegant. 
The  house  occupied  by  Montezuma's  clan  was  very  lux- 
urious in  its  appointments.  Its  garden  was  surrounded 
by  balconies  supported  by  marble  columns  and  floored 
with  jasper  elegantly  inlaid.  In  the  grounds  were  ten 
large  pools,  in  which  all  the  different  species  of  water- 
birds  found  in  Mexico  disported  themselves.  Sea-birds 
had  tanks  of  salt  water.  All  were  kept  pure  and  sweet, 
filled  by  pipes  leading  from  the  lake  or  the  aqueduct. 
Three  hundred  men  were  constantly  employed  to  take 
care  of  these  creatures,  and  a  bird-doctor  attended  to 
such  as  were  sick.  About  these  tanks  there  were  pleas- 
ant corridors,  where  Montezuma  and  his  brother-chiefs 
often  walked  to  observe  the  curious  habits  of  these 
feathered  captives. 

Spanish  writers  speak  also  of  a  great  collection  of 
albinos,  another  of  dwarfs  and  giants  and  deformed  peo- 
ple, some  of  whom  had  been  made  such  to  provide  curi- 
osities for  the  State  museum. 

Besides  the  large  collection  of  water-birds,  there  was 
another  one  of  such  as  were  found  in  fields  and  woods. 
A  menagerie  of  wild  beasts  had  been  gathered  from  every 
country  known  to  the  Mexicans. 


42          '  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

The  official  residence  of  the  chiefs  of  Tezcuco  had 
three  hundred  rooms ;  some  of  the  terraces  on  which  it 
stood  are  still  entire  and  covered  with  hard  cement.  Its 
richly-sculptured  stones  form  an  inexhaustible  quarry  for 
the  house-builders  of  this  age.  The  neighboring  hill, 
where  once  was  a  summer  retreat  for  these  luxurious 
rulers,  still  shows  the  stone  stairways  and  ten-aces  which 
adorned  the  place.  The  city  was  quite  embowered  in 
trees  and  beautified  with  many  parks  and  gardens.  In 
fact,  the  botanical  garden  found  at  the  time  of  the  Span- 
ish conquest  was  a  model  afterward  copied  in  various  parts 
of  Europe. 

Our  faith  in  the  glowing  descriptions  given  by  Spanish 
authors  of  Mexican  art  and  civilization  before  the  con- 
quest would  not  survive  their  many  exaggerated  and 
contradictory  stories  if  we  could  not  turn  to  the  testi- 
mony left  by  the  old  inhabitants  themselves.  While  the 
monuments  reared  by  the  Aztecs  in  the  Valley  of  Mexico 
have  been  swept  away,  the  temples  and  the  dwellings  far- 
ther south  exist  in  vast  and  splendid  desolation,  proving 
that  from  their  very  beginning  these  later  tribes  were 
familiar  with  a  style  of  architecture  whose  "  lavish  mag- 
nificence has  never  been  excelled." 

A  late  traveler  speaks  of  the  ruins  of  Kabah  as  "  orna- 
mented from  the  very  foundation."  The  cornices  run- 
ning over  the  doorways  would  embellish  the  art  of  any 
known  era,  and  "amid  a  mass  of  barbarism  of  rude  and 
uncouth  conceptions  it  stands  an  offering  by  American 
builders  worthy  the  acceptance  of  a  polished  people." 

The  remains  of  Mitla — one  of  the  holy  cities  of  South- 
ern Mexico — are  considered  the  finest  in  a  country  which 
can  furnish  ruined  cities  by  the  score.  These  remains 
are  situated  in  a  desert  place  unsheltered  by  the  dense 


RUINS    IN   YUCATAN. 


44  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

forests  which  have  overgrown  and  buried  so  many  others. 
In  the  dry  air  the  brilliant  red  and  black  of  its  wonder- 
ful frescoes  have  never  faded.  Some  gifted  architect  of 
a  forgotten  age  has  adorned  both  the  inner  and  the  outer 
walls  of  these  buildings  with  panels  of  mosaic  so  ex- 
quisitely wrought  that  "  they  can  only  be  matched  by 
the  monuments  of  Greece  and  Rome  in  their  best  days." 
The  rooms  have  vaulted  ceilings  and  are  in  pairs,  uncon- 
nected with  other  apartments,  opening  out  of  doors. 
Some  rude  artist  of  a  later  day  has  scrawled  coarse 
figures  on  these  walls,  showing  that  the  nameless  build- 
ers of  Mitla,  like  the  Aztecs  and  other  tribes,  had  suf- 
fered from  invasions.  The  terraced  roofs  of  many  of 
these  buildings  are  now  heaped  by  Nature's  kindly  hand 
with  luxuriant  vegetation,  and  we  can  see  where  the  Aztecs 
learned  to  make  their  beautiful  roof-gardens.  Sculptures, 
paintings,  tesselated  pavements,  luxurious  baths,  fountains 
and  artificial  lakes,  are  all  found  in  mournful  decay  in  the 
silent  depths  of  many  a  wilderness. 

The  cell-like  apartments  of  one  of  these  elegant  build- 
ings in  Mitla  led  its  observer  to  suppose  that  it  was  a 
convent  and  to  name  it  "  The  House  of  the  Nuns,"  but 
in  comparing  it  with  other  buildings  in  Northern 
Mexico,  some  of  which  are  now  inhabited  by  pueblo 
Indians,  we  find  that  this  must  have  been  one  of  those 
joint  tenement-houses  which  Columbus  noticed  in  Cuba, 
and  which  form  one  of  the  strongest  proofs  that  society 
throughout  Spanish  America  was  communistic.  They 
were  generally  large  and  calculated  to  hold  a  clan  or  a 
number  of  related  families.  Some  were  several  stories 
high  and  had  hundreds  of  rooms ;  in  these  a  population 
of  from  one  hundred  to  three  thousand  found  shelter.  In 
the  country  these  fort-like  villages  were  similar  to  those 


46  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

human  hives  seen  to-day  in  many  parts  of  China  where 
families  composed  of  hundreds  of  individuals  are  banded 
together  for  mutual  protection  under  one  roof,  bearing  one 
name.  Their  communism  in  living  thus  finds  expression 
in  their  houses. 

The  dwellings  of  these  communities  were  built  on 
what  is  called  the  terraced  plan.  Imagine  a  house  like 
a  huge  staircase,  in  which  each  story  formed  a  step  ten 
feet  high.  The  whole  interior  was  made  up  of  numerous 
small  square  apartments,  often  arranged  in  pail's,  having 
no  connection  with  others,  rising  tier  above  tier,  without 
any  halls  or  stairways,  each  story  being  wider  by  one  row 
of  rooms  than  the  one  above  it. 

In  ruins  now  existing  in  New  Mexico  it  is  evident  that 
the  inmates  used  ladders  and  trap-doors  in  the  floor  or 
ceiling  when  they  passed  from  one  story  to  another.* 
Those  who  came  into  the  house  from  the  outside  climbed 
to  the  roof  of  the  first  story  by  ladders,  never  entering, 
as  we  do,  by  doors  on  the  ground-floor.  These  ladders 
were  drawn  up  after  the  inmates  were  safely  housed. 
The  roof  of  the  first  story  made  a  shelf  on  which  to 
plant  a  ladder  for  climbing  to  the  roof  of  the  second, 
unless,  as  was  sometimes  the  case,  all  the  stories  but  the 
first  had  outside  doorways.  Each  house  had  one  or  more 
rooms  set  apart  as  council-chambers  for  the  clan  or  as 
places  of  worship.  There  must  have  been  many  dark 
rooms  in  such  buildings,  but  these  people  lived  in  stormy 
times,  and  their  houses  were  fortresses.  The  walls,  both 

*  The  captain  sent  by  Mendoza  (the  first  Spanish  viceroy)  to  search 
for  the  famous  "  Seven  Cities  "  speaks  of  "  excellent  good  houses  of 
three  or  four  lofts  high,  wherein  are  good  lodgings  and  fair  chambers, 
with  ladders  instead  of  stairs,  and  certain  cellars  (estufas)  under- 
gronnd,  very  good  and  paved.  The  seven  cities  are  seven  small 
towns,  all  made  with  this  kind  of  houses." 


48  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

inside  and  outside,  were  very  thick  and  strong,  plastered 
so  carefully  with  a  kind  of  white  cement  that  they  shone 
like  enamel  and  led  the  Spaniards  to  think  that  these 
were  palaces  whose  stones  were  plated  with  silver.  Bright 
unfading  colors  were  often  used  in  decoration,  and  bricks 
were  laid  in  ornamental  courses.  Ventilation  was  had  by 
small  apertures  placed  opposite  each  other  and  in  a  line 
with  loopholes  in  the  outer  walls.  Chimneys  were  un-\ 
known  to  these  ancient  masons.  The  cooking  for  the 
community  was  done  by  a  common  fire,  or  by  several  fires 
if  the  clan  was  a  large  one. 

Outside  the  large  cities  these  communal  dwellings  were 
often  grouped  by  the  side  of  some  stream  and  surrounded 
by  cultivated  fields  and  orchards,  or  oftener  on  some  com- 
manding hilltop.  This  was  necessary  in  case  of  attack 
from  hostile  tribes.  A  group  of  these  massive  buildings 
surrounded  by  luxuriant  trees  must  have  presented  a 
fine  appearance.  Some  were  from  five  to  six  hundred 
feet  long,  with  wings.  Towers  two  or  three  stories  high 
were  often  added. 

The  building  known  as  the  Casa  Grande,  on  San 
Miguel  River,  has  walls  eight  feet  in  thickness  and  is 
supposed  to  have  been  seven  stories  high,  with  a  front 
of  eight  hundred  feet.  Near  this  building  was  another, 
with  rooms  built  around  a  square.  The  whole  country 
in  this  region  (one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  north-west 
of  Chihuahua)  is  full  of  Indian  mounds,  in  which  are 
found  stone  axes,  mills  for  grinding  corn,  broken  pot- 
tery, and  other  tokens  that  this  was  once  the  home  of  a 
large  and  thriving  population. 

In  case  of  war  the  terraced  roofs  were  heaped  with 
missiles  and  bristled  with  defenders.  When  defeated, 
the  survivors  fled  for  refuge  to  the  caves  which  abounded 


THE   VALLEY  REPEOPLED.  49 

in  that  mountainous  country.  Holes  large  enough  for  a 
living-room  are  found  to-day  dug  out  of  the  face  of  a 
precipice,  and  so  high  that  in  one  case  the  mortar  which 
was  used  in  walling  up  the  front  of  the  excavation  must 
have  been  carried  up  four  hundred  feet.  These  retreats 
were  generally  in  the  most  inaccessible  places,  where  it 
would  be  difficult  with  all  the  skill  of  modern  times  to 
build  fortifications.  Water  was  sometimes  led  to  these 
places  by  a  secret  pipe ;  others  were  supplied  by  cisterns. 
In  a  cemented  tank  which  was  recently  found  in  one  of 
these  cave-dwellings  at  the  North  the  print  of  a  little 
child's  hand  is  seen  as  plainly  as  if  the  small  fingers  had 
touched  the  soft  plaster  but  yesterday.  In  some  cases 
immense  pine  trees  have  grown  up  amid  these  ruins, 
showing  how  long  ago  they  were  forsaken  by  human 
beings. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

LAWS  AND  LAWGIVERS. 

WHAT  we  know  of  the  social  organization  and  gov- 
ernment of  the  Aztec  and  kindred  tribes  has  come 
down  to  us  mostly  through  Spanish  sources,  as,  excepting 
some  pictures  carved  on  temple-walls  and  on  monuments, 
most  of  their  early  records  were  swept  away  at  the  time 
of  the  conquest.  But  these  foreign  writers  knew  so  lit- 
tle of  the  peculiarities  of  the  people  they  professed  to  de- 
scribe that  their  accounts  are  often  contradictory.  Thus 
a  great  empire  is  spoken  of  by  one  writer  as  ruled  by 
the  despot  Montezuma.  Kings  elect  him  to  his  high 
office.  He  is  surrounded  by  a  great  retinue  of  heredi- 
tary nobility,  and  princes  from  a  score  of  provinces  are 
obliged  to  attend  him  as  hostages  for  the  good  behavior 
of  their  people,  while  a  harem  of  a  thousand  dark-eyed 
beauties  graces  his  splendid  halls.  On  the  other  hand, 
Cortez  informs  Charles  V.  that  some  of  these  tribes  have 
a  republican  form  of  government.  Such,  for  instance, 
were  the  Cholulans,  a  powerful  mercantile  tribe  about 
sixty  miles  from  Mexico,  and  the  Tlascalans,  a  race  of 
bold  mountaineers  whom  Cortez  met  and  conquered  on 
his  way  to  that  city.  Of  Tlascala  he  says :  "  It  resem- 
bles the  States  of  Venice,  Genoa  and  Pisa,  since  the 
supreme  authority  is  not  reposed  in  one  person.  In 
war  all  unite  and  have  a  voice  in  its  management  and 

50 


LAWS  AND  LAWGIVERS.  51 

direction."  Besides  these  republics,  there  were  many  in- 
dependent tribes.  At  the  very  door  of  the  capital  was 
Tezcuco,  whose  territory  rivaled  that  of  the  Aztecs  in 
extent,  while  its  history,  as  related  by  Tezcucan  writers 
to  their  adopted  countrymen  of  Spain,  shows  a  line  of 
monarchs  some  of  whom  were  claimed  to  be  the  intel- 
lectual peers  of  Socrates,  David  and  Solomon.  While 
the  Tezcucans  took  precedence  of  the  Aztecs  with  re- 
gard to  culture,  the  Zapotecs  of  the  South  defied  them 
as  warriors.  We  learn  from  Cortez  that  no  Aztec  ever 
dared  to  set  foot  on  their  territory. 

There  is  nothing  stranger  in  the  history  of  the  Aztecs 
than  the  quiet  behavior  of  the  people  when  their  so- 
called  emperor  was  taken  captive.  During  a  morning 
call  at  his  palace  he  is  arrested  by  Cortez,  and  after  a 
brief  explanation  is  carried  in  his  litter  through  the 
streets  by  his  weeping  nobles  to  the  quarters  of  an 
armed  band  of  foreigners  and  left  there  a  prisoner, .to 
guide  the  affairs  of  his  realm  by  their  permission  and 
under  their  direction.  Nothing  explains  the  inconsis- 
tencies of  this  relation  or  dispels  the  mystery  which 
surrounds  this  Indian  potentate  until  we  study  the  so- 
cial customs  which  still  prevail  among  the  aborigines 
of  America  and  examine  the  deserted  homes  and  tem- 
ples of  the  very  tribes  in  question.  Such  a  study  clears 
up  many  of  the  mistakes  of  early  historians.  We  find 
everywhere  evidences  of  a  state  of  society  so  widely  dif- 
ferent from  that  existing  in  Europe  as  to  be  unintelligible 
there.  Cortez  speaks  of  his  host  as  Sefior  Montezuma 
— "  setter  "  being  a  title  applied  to  an  ordinary  Spanish 
gentleman — while  in  the  same  letter  he  describes  the 
princes  and  the  lords  who  formed  the  court  of  this 
Indian  ruler.  Other  writers  are  more  consistent,  and, 


52  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

boldly  jumping  to  the  conclusion  that  this  was  a  great 
empire  with  a  sovereign  like  their  own,  the  victories 
they  describe  are,  of  course,  greatly  magnified.  That 
this  was  the  impression  of  Mexico  gained  by  the  rude 
Spanish  soldiery  we  know  from  the  fact  that  when  they 
first  saw  the  beautiful  cities  of  the  valley  in  their  glorious 
setting  of  mountain  and  lake  they  feared  to  grapple  with 
a  people  whose  civilization  in  some  respects  outshone  their 
own,  and  but  for  the  dauntless  courage  and  ambition  of 
Cortez  they  would  have  turned  back  on  the  very  thresh- 
old without  their  coveted  prize.  Two  descendants  of 
Tezcucan  chiefs,  who  afterward  described  their  country 
for  the  benefit  of  European  readers,  give  their  history 
the  same  coloring,  claiming  the  rank  of  emperors  for 
their  ancestors.  Further  research  has  shown  that  all 
these  were  fanciful  theories,  and  that  not  only  in  Cholula 
and  Tlascala,  but  throughout  Mexico,  the  republican  form 
of  government  prevailed. 

When  the  Aztecs  came  into  the  valley,  they  were  a 
group  of  seven  distinct  but  related  families,  all  speak- 
ing one  language  and  worshiping  the  same  gods.  The 
strange,  hard  syllables  of  their  seven  surnames  were  per- 
petuated among  them  until  some  time  near  the  close  of 
the  seventeenth  century — almost  a  hundred  years  after 
the  Spanish  conquest.  These  families  held  their  lands  in 
common,  as  all  American  Indians  do,  and  it  is  probable 
that  long  before  they  forsook  their  huts  in  the  swamp  for 
substantial  stone  houses  they  lived  together  on  the  com- 
munal plan.  In  Stephens's  Travels  in  Yucatan  we  have 
a  glimpse  of  Indian  village-life  as  it  existed  then.  The 
author  says:  "The  food  is  prepared  at  one  hut,  and 
every  family  sends  for  its  portion;  which  explains  a 
singular  spectacle  we  had  seen  on  our  arrival — a  pro- 


LAWS  AND  LAWGIVERS.  53 

cession  of  women  and  children,  each  carrying  an  earthen 
bowl  containing  a  quantity  of  smoking-hot  broth,  all 
coming  down  the  same  road  and  dispersing  among  the 
different  huts.  This  custom  has  existed  for  an  unknown 
length  of  time." 

Like  their  neighbors,  these  Aztecs  held  as  their  own  an 
undefined  territory  over  which  they  might  extend  their 
city  as  they  chose.  As  we  have  seen,  the  ground  on 
which  Mexico  stood  was  nearly  all  reclaimed  from  the 
salt  marshes  of  Lake  Tezcuco.  It  had  about  it  a  fringe 
of.  floating  gardens  which  in  part  supplied  the  city  mar- 
kets, although  with  the  increase  of  population  a  still  lar- 
ger supply  was  drawn  from  the  fields  and  the  orchards  of 
tribes  they  had  forced  to  pay  tribute. 

The  city  had  four  calputti,  or  wards,  each  of  which  was 
governed  by  its  own  chief  and  had  its  own  temple  and 
public  buildings.  These  wards  were  further  subdivided 
as  the  tribe  increased  in  numbers.  Not  only  was  each 
ward  sovereign  in  its  own  territory,  but  each  of  its  sub- 
divisions was  an  independent  organization  so  far  as  its 
local  interests  were  concerned. 

The  business  of  the  tribe  was  transacted  in  the  cen- 
tral council-house — teepan,  or  house  of  the  community. 
This  building  fronted  the  great  open  square  in  the  heart 
of  the  city  and  had  a  tower  for  defence  and  lookout.  It 
is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  it  was  this  large  building 
which  was  described  by  Spanish  historians  as  Monte- 
zuma's  palace.  As  the  dwelling  of  the  rich  and  power- 
ful clan  to  which  the  chief-of-men  belonged,  the  tribal 
council  was  probably  held  within  its  chambers,  that 
being  the  custom  through  all  the  subdivisions  of  the 
tribe. 

While  the  settlement  on  the  lake  was  still  new  one  of 


54  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

these  original  Aztec  clans,  or  kins,  seceded  in  some  family 
quarrel  and  proceeded  to  set  up  for  itself  on  the  main- 
land. In  1473  these  divided  clans  had  a  fierce  struggle 
on  the  battlefield ;  the  Aztecs  were  finally  left  masters. 
In  punishment  for  their  offence  against  the  tribe,  the 
Tlatilucos,  as  the  seceders  were  called,  were  degraded  by 
the  tribal  council  to  the  rank  of  women ;  no  male  Indian 
could  fall  lower  than  that.  Their  young  men  were  denied 
the  rank  of  warriors  and  became  mere  burden-bearers  for 
their  victorious  brethren.  In  the  peace  which  followed, 
the  vanquished  men  were  set  to  work  on  the  great  teocalli& 
which  the  Aztecs  were  then  building.  After  years  of 
alienation  the  Tlatilucos  were  conditionally  restored  tc. 
their  former  rank  and  allowed  their  birthright  as  war- 
riors, but  the  two  parties  never  ceased  to  be  bitter  enemies. 
The  old  hatred  was  only  smothered,  and  broke  out  afresh 
in  the  time  of  the  Spanish  invasion,  when  an  opportunity 
was  taken  to  pay  off  old  scores,  with  interest,  and  those 
who  had  been  seceders  were  in  league  with  the  enemies 
of  the  Aztecs. 

Among  the  tribes  which  had  settled  in  the  valley  be- 
fore the  Aztecs  built  their  island-city  were  the  Alcohuans, 
afterward  called  Tezcucans,  after  their  city,  Tezcuco. 
They  were  a  more  humane  and  cultivated  people  than 
the  Aztecs,  upon  whom,  from  the  first,  they  seem  to  have 
looked  down  as  an  inferior  race.  As  they  advanced  in 
wealth  and  civilization  they  extended  their  conquests  to- 
ward the  north. 

About  one  hundred  years  before  the  Europeans  made 
their  appearance  in  the  valley,  the  Tezcucans — who  were 
on  the  losing  side  in  a  conflict  with  their  neighbors,  the 
Tepanacs,  who  appear  at  that  time  to  have  been  masters 
of  the  table-land — entered  into  a  league  with  the  Aztecs 


LA  WS  AND  LA  WGIVERS.  55 

and  Tlacopans.  In  gratitude  for  the  valuable  assistance 
rendered  by  the  former  tribe  at  a  time  when  their  nation 
was  nearly  crushed,  the  Tezcucans  gave  their  once-despised 
neighbors  the  tribute  they  levied  on  the  conquered  Tepa- 
nacs,  and  henceforth  the  Aztecs  were  masters  of  the  val- 
ley. The  three  allied  tribes  agreed  to  stand  by  each 
other  under  all  circumstances.  In  any  war  in  which  all 
united  the  spoil  was  divided  according  to  terms  agreed 
upon  among  themselves,  Tezcuco  and  Mexico,  as  the 
largest  tribes,  taking  the  lion's  share.  Each  of  the  con- 
federate powers  was  absolute  in  its  own  territory,  and 
might  carry  on  war  and  levy  tribute  for  itself.  These 
tribes  lived  in  friendship  for  about  one  hundred  years, 
when,  as  might  have  been  expected,  they  fell  out  over 
their  plunder.  By  this  time  the  Aztecs  had  succeeded 
in  bringing  an  immense  territory  under  tribute,  carrying 
their  banners  in  triumph  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific 
and  as  far  south  as  Guatemala  and  Yucatan.  The  whole 
government  of  their  nation  was  organized  on  a  strictly 
war-basis,  with  a  general  at  its  head. 

The  commander-in-chief  of  the  Aztecs  was  elected  for 
life  or  during  good  behavior.  The  office  was  not  in  any 
sense  hereditary,  although  Montezuma,  the  chief  in  power 
at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  conquest,  was  the  nephew  of  his 
predecessor,  "  the  bold  and  bloody  Ahuitzotl."  The  old 
warriors  of  the  tribe,  the  head-chiefs  of  the  confederate 
tribes  and  the  leading  priests  were  the  electors  of  this 
officer.  These  electors  constituted  a  tribal  council,  which 
was  the  fountain  of  all  power,  religious  and  civil.  They 
not  only  elected  the  chief  and  deposed  him  if  he  dis- 
pleased the  tribe,  but  after  his  inauguration  they  decided 
all  questions  in  peace  or  in  war.  The  chief  seems  to 
have  been  an  executive  of  their  decrees,  which,  like  those 


56  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

of  old  Venice,  were  despotic,  and  often  cruel.  The  man 
chosen  by  this  council  bore  the  title  of  "  chief-of-men  " 
(tiaca-tecuhtli). 

Among  the  Aztecs  the  chief  had  an  associate  in  of- 
fice whose  business  it  was  to  look  after  the  revenues  of 
the  tribe.  This  man  had  the  strange  title  of  "snake- 
woman"  (cohua-cohuatl),  meaning,  probably,  a  mate. 
From  their  first  appearance  in  history  these  warlike 
people  had  subsisted  on  the  plunder  taken  from  other 
tribes,  so  that  whoever  had  the  care  of  the  revenues 
from  this  source  had  the  life  of  the  nation  in  his  hands. 
This  associate  chief  went  through  the  same  ceremonies  at 
the  time  of  his  inauguration,  and  wore  the  same  dress,  as 
the  "chief-of-men,"  and  in  time  of  emergency  he  was  ex- 
pected to  head  the  army. 

Tlascala  had  four  chiefs,  who  acted  in  concert;  the 
Zapotecs  had  a  high  priest  or  divine  ruler,  and  the  Tez- 
cucans  also  had  but  one. 

It  is  a  fact  established  by  one  of  the  oldest  sculptures  in 
Mexico  that  the  custom  of  double  headship  was  common 
there  from  the  earliest  times.  A  nameless  artist  has  given 
us  on  the  walls  of  Palenque  a  picture  representing  the 
two  chiefs  in  their  official  regalia — the  very  dress  which 
Montezuma  wore,  as  described  by  Spanish  writers. 

Among  the  qualifications  which  were  required  in  the 
chief-of-men  were  gravity  and  dignity  of  manner,  fluency 
of  speech  and  bravery  in  war.  The  prolonged  ordeal 
through  which  each  candidate  for  ordinary  chieftainship 
was  called  to  pass  was  a  test  of  his  character  and  of  his 
fitness  for  office  which  none  but  those  possessed  of  every 
Indian  virtue  could  endure,  and  any  one  selected  from 
among  those  thus  distinguished  could  scarcely  fail  to  be 
worthy  of  public  trust.  The  candidate  was  obliged  to 


LAWS  AND  LAWGIVERS.  57 

pass  through  four  days  and  nights  of  torment.  He  ate 
but  little,  and  that  of  the  poorest  food ;  he  was  sur- 
rounded every  hour  by  a  crowd  who  subjected  him  to 
every  possible  indignity ;  he  was  jeered  at,  taunted  and 
scourged  until  he  was  bleeding  and  exhausted.  This 
over,  he  spent  a  year  in  close  retirement  and  abstinence. 
After  another  four  days  and  nights  of  the  most  rigorous 
and  cruel  tests  of  his  patience  and  his  fortitude,  he  was 
brought  out  in  triumph  to  enjoy  once  more  the  society  of 
friends  and  allowed  to  dress  and  feast  at  will.  The 
head-chief  wore  his  hair  tied  up  on  the  top  of  his 
head  with  a  narrow  band  of  leather  dyed  red. 

As  badges  of  their  office  the  "chief-of-men"  and  his  as- 
sociate wore  certain  ornaments  which  it  was  death  for  any 
one  else  to  assume.  One  of  the  green  stones  so  much  ad- 
mired in  those  days  was  hung  from  the  bridge  of  the  nose; 
a  golden  lip-ring  was  another  appendage.  Wristbands 
of  exquisite  feather-work,  armbands  and  anklets  of  gold 
elaborately  chased,  added  to  the  brilliancy  of  his  attire. 
Montezuma  is  described  as  wearing  a  large  square  man- 
tle of  richly-embroidered  cotton  cloth  tied  about  his  neck 
by  two  of  its  knotted  corners,  a  broad  sash  with  fringed 
ends  draped  about  his  loins,  sandals  with  golden  soles  and 
thongs  of  embossed  leather.  His  garments  were  sprinkled 
with  precious  stones  and  pearls,  with  a  long  and  hand- 
some tuft  of  green  feathers  fastened  on  the  top  of  his 
head  and  hanging  down  his  back.  At  the  time  of  his 
introduction  to  Europeans  he  was  about  forty  years  of 
age,  tall,  thin,  with  long,  straight  black  hair  and  but  little 
beard.  He  had  a  paler  color  than  most  of  his  race,  and 
a  serious,  if  not  a  melancholy,  expression.  If  half  that 
we  read  of  Montezuma's  epicurean  tastes  and  inactive 
habits  is  true,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  he  was  a 


58  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

confirmed  dyspeptic,  which  may  in  part  account  for  his 
gloomy  views  of  life  at  this  time. 

The  Mexicans  seem  to  have  had  no  written  laws.  It 
is  said  that  in  early  times  their  laws  were  so  few  that 
everybody  knew  them  by  heart.  In  later  days  a  record 
was  kept  of  suits  in  law,  and  the  decisions  given  in  these 
cases  served  as  precedents.  Thus  was  established  a  com- 
mon law  founded  on  long  usage.  The  despotic  decrees 
of  the  council  were  often  given  after  consulting  the 
priests,  who  were  the  oracles  of  the  tribe.  When  the 
gods  had  decided,  there  was  no  appeal.  A  number  of 
such  cases  occurred  in  the  troublous  times  when  the 
Aztecs  were  at  war  with  the  Spaniards.  It  is  said  that 
all  the  wisdom  of  the  great  Hungry  Fox  could  not  avail 
in  a  controversy  with  these  priests.  The  chief  loathed  the 
worship  of  Humming-Bird  and  sought  to  bring  his  peo- 
ple back  to  the  altars  of  the  Toltecs.  But  in  vain.  The 
oracles  declared  that  all  the  troubles  in  which  the  tribe 
were  then  plunged  were  due  to  the  neglect  of  human 
sacrifices,  and  it  was  decided  that  henceforth  the  cruel 
war-god  should  have  his  fill  of  them. 

The  punishment  of  crime  was  most  severe.  Every 
petty  theft  was  punished  by  the  temporary  enslavement 
of  the  culprit  to  the  person  he  had  wronged,  or  by  death. 
Stealing  a  tobacco-pouch  or  twenty  ears  of  corn  or  pilfer- 
ing in  the  market-place  was  thus  atoned  for.  In  the  lat- 
ter case  the  thief  was  clubbed  to  death  on  the  spot.  Any 
one  who  was  guilty  of  stealing  gold  offended  Xipe,  the 
patron  god  of  those  who  worked  in  the  precious  metals ; 
he  was  therefore  doomed  to  be  skinned  alive  before  the 
altar  of  this  deity.  The  effect  of  these  severe  laws  against 
robbery  was  everywhere  seen  in  treasures  being  left 
unguarded.  A  man  who  died  drunk  was  dreased  for 


MEXICAN   INDIAN   MAT-MAKERS   (MODERN). 


60  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

burial  iu  the  robes  worn  by  the  goddess  of  strong  drink, 
his  patron  saint.  Drunkenness  in  young  people,  since  it 
unfitted  them  for  public  duty,  was  punishable  with  death, 
though  the  same  fault  was  winked  at  in  an  older  pel-son. 
Slanderers  fared  somewhat  better,  and  escaped  with  singed 
hair.  Any  member  of  the  ealjmlli  who  failed  to  till  the 
little  portion  of  the  public  land  assigned  to  him  became 
an  outcast,  and  was  condemned  to  menial  service.  If  he 
failed  to  till  the  lands  of  any  minor  for  whom  he  was 
guardian,  his  breach  of  trust  was  punished  with  death. 

True  slavery,  iu  our  sense  of  that  word,  was  unknown 
among  these  people.  As  outcasts  they  forfeited  their 
tribal  privileges,  but  could  be  readopted  by  their  breth- 
ren after  some  meritorious  act. 

It  was  a  capital  otVcncc  to  wear  any  part  of  a  chief's 
regalia  or  for  a  man  or  a  woman  to  put  on  the  dress  be- 
longing to  the  other  sex  or  to  change  the  boundaries  of 
lands.  These  old  communal  lands  were  most  jealously 
guarded.  The  people  bad  strong  local  attachments,  and 
it  is  said  that  thousands  in  Mexico  are  still  living  on  the 
plots  of  ground  tilled  by  their  ancestors  hundreds  ot'y 
ago.  Many  of  these  were  not  A/tees,  though  most  of  them 
had  been  at  some  time  tributary  to  them. 

We  learn  from  picture-records  that  four  cities  on  the 
coast  of  Mexico  paid  each,  yearly,  four  thousand  hand- 
fuls  of  the  feathers  needed  in  the  exquisite  mosaic-work 
for  which  these  tribes  were  so  famous,  two  hundred  bags 
of  cocoa,  forty  tiger-skins,  one  hundred  and  sixty  kinds 
of  certain  colors  needed  in  the  temple- worship  or  Im- 
personal decoration.  Other  places  paid  tribute  in  cochi- 
neal, dyestuffs,  gold,  precious  stones,  besides  the  victims 
for  sacrifice — the  most  valuable  of  all  revenues. 


CHAPTER  V. 

ON  THE  WAR-PATH. 

A  MONG  some  of  the  tribes  of  Anahuac  a  farmer  or 
•**  a  mechanic  or  a  merchant  might  be  counted  as  a 
man  ;  not  so  was  it  with  the  fierce  Aztecs.  Every  male 
in  that  tribe  was  born  to  be  a  warrior ;  it  was  only  when 
he  was  maimed,  sick,  old,  or,  worse  than  all,  an  outcast 
from  his  clan,  that  he  could  not  claim  the  privilege  of 
going  to  the  battlefield.  Even  the  priests  took  a  leading 
part  in  every  conflict.  It  was  not  only  their  business  to 
interpret .  the  will  of  the  gods,  but  they  marched  at  the 
head  of  the  Aztec  troops  bearing  a  little  image,  or  talis- 
man, of  the  most  famous  of  the  war-gods  of  Mexico.  It 
was  also  the  duty  of  the  priests  to  give  the  signal  for  the 
battle  to  begin.  When  war  was  decided  upon  by  the 
great  council,  a  messenger  was  sent  to  the  tribe  to  be 
attacked,  and  in  case  the  help  of  their  allies  and  tribu- 
taries was  needed  word  was  sent  also  to  them.  No  one 
dared  to  refuse  to  join  the  Aztecs 'when  they  took  the 
war-path. 

Like  the  Sioux  and  other  tribes  on  our  borders,  the 
Aztec  braves  had  a  war-dance  around  a  blazing  fire  the 
night  before  they  set  out  on  a  raid,  and  ceremonies  as 
heathenish  and  disgusting  as  any  of  those  in  which  our 
wild  Indians  engage  were  common  among  them.  The 
humble  wigwams  on  our  prairies  and  the  proud,  lux- 
urious city  enthroned  on  Lake  Tezcuco  sent  out  the 

61 


62  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

same  kind  of  men  in  war-time.  We  can  readily  believe 
in  the  savage  orgies  held  in  the  splendid  square  of 
Tlatililco  when  we  remember  the  impurity  and  cruelty 
of  old  Home  when  her  warriors,  builders  and  poets,  her 
historians  and  statesmen,  were  moulding  a  civilization 
which  made  her  the  mistress  of  the  world. 

When  the  great  snake-drum  on  the  temple  sounded 
the  call  to  arms,  the  warriors  from  fifteen  years  old  and 
upward  gathered  at  the  armory  or  house  of  darts  belong- 
ing to  their  ealpulli,  where  the  weapons  of  their  clan  were 
kept.  We  have  pictures  of  the  armor  they  wore  which 
correspond  with  the  descriptions  given  by  Cortez  and  his 
soldiers.  The  spear  was  their  main  weapon.  It  was  made 
of  hard  and  elastic  cane,  with  flint  points  fastened  into  a 
slit  at  the  end  with  gum  and  the  strong  fibres  of  the 
maguey.  The  spear  sometimes  had  several  of  these  flint 
tips.  Their  swords  were  made  of  tough  wood,  with 
grooves  cut  along  the  edge,  in  which  was  inserted  a 
hard  stone  whose  sharp  edge  was  easily  broken,  but 
which  cut  like  a  blade  of  the  finest  steel.  The  bow  was 
made  of  cane,  and  the  arrows  were  carried  in  a  quiver  on 
the  shoulder.  They  also  had  slings  for  throwing  stones, 
which  they  used  very  skillfully.  Shields  were  made  of 
canes  netted  together,  inwoven  with  cotton,  encased  with 
gilded  boards  and  decorated  with  feathers.  These  were 
carried  on  the  left  arm,  and  were  so  hard  that  the  Span- 
iards found  that  nothing  but  the  arrows  from  their  cross- 
bows could  pierce  them. 

Every  warrior,  from  the  chief-of-men  down  to  the 
rank  and  file,  was  painted.  The  common  soldier  some- 
times had  scarcely  any  other  dress  than  the  colors  of  his 
clan,  fancifully  applied  to  face  and  body;  at  best,  he 
went  to  the  field  with  head,  feet  and  avms  bare.  A 


ON  THE  WAR-PATH.  63 

quilted  cotton  tunic  two  fingers  thick  was  so  much  like 
a  coat  of  mail  that  the  Spaniards  were  very  glad  to  bor- 
row the  cheap  and  useful  fashion.  A  chief  wore  his  hair 
cropped  above  his  ears,  and  a  wooden  helmet,  over  which 
he  often  stretched  the  skin  of  some  wild  bird  or  animal, 
the  grinning  teeth  and  fierce  eyes  of  a  bear  or  a  tiger  sur- 
mounting the  painted  face.  The  head  of  an  eagle  with 
hooked  beak  was  a  favorite  device  to  represent  the  spirit 
of  the  wearer  or  the  name  he  had  won  in  battle.  Lip- 
pendants,  ear-rings  and  other  gewgaws  were  worn  if  the 
soldier's  means  permitted  such  extravagance.  The  chief- 
of-men  and  his  associate  wore  their  hair  tied  with  strips 
of  leather  colored  red  with  cochineal.  The  towering 
plume  of  green  feathers  on  the  helmet  was  a  mark  of 
the  highest  rank  which  no  other  warrior  dared  to  assume. 
A  green  stone  hung  from  the  bridge  of  the  nose,  and  the 
ear-  and  lip-rings  were  of  wrought  gold.  Bands  of 
exquisite  feather-work  encircled  the  arms,  wrists  and  an- 
kles of  the  chief.  On  the  field  of  battle  a  long  tress  of 
feather- work  hung  from  the  crown  to  the  girdle.  From 
this  was  suspended  a  small  drum  or  horn,  which  the 
chief  used  in  making  signals  to  his  men.  As  habits 
of  luxury  increased  among  the  Aztecs  their  chief  went 
out  in  a  splendid  litter.  Gayly-dressed  pages  carried  a 
gorgeous  canopy  over  his  head  ;  and  if  obliged  to  alight, 
he  was  supported  by  chiefs  of  the  highest  rank.  Cortez 
declares  that  these  Indian  chiefs  came  out  to  meet  him  in 
battle  as  they  would  go  to  some  holiday  parade,  and  that 
even  the  hardy  Tlascalans  had  in  this  respect  declined 
from  their  republican  simplicity. 

The  army  was  readily  prepared  for  a  march.  The 
common  soldier  carried  his  own  provision.  He  had  in 
his  pouch  coru-cake  baked  very  hard,  ground  beans  and 


64  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

chia  (a  berry  out  of  which  he  made  a  palatable  drink). 
Coffee  was  unknown  among  these  people  until  after  the 
conquest,  and  chocolate  was  a  beverage  which  none  but 
the  wealthy  could  afford.  He  had  plenty  of  red  pepper, 
and  used  it  not  only  as  a  condiment,  but  also  as  food. 
Salt  for  seasoning  was  obtained  from  the  lake  that  sur- 
rounded the  city.  Cornstalk  sugar  was  a  common 
luxury,  and  formed  part  of  the  bill  of  fare  in  camp. 
Special  carriers  accompanied  the  army,  loaded  with 
whatever  was  needed,  such  as  tents,  tent-poles,  mats  for 
bedding,  camp-kettles  and  ammunition.  They  also  had 
the  ornaments  with  which  braves  who  should  distinguish 
themselves  in  battle  were  to  be  decorated  before  they  left 
the  field.  One  of  these  tokens  was  the  privilege  of  wear- 
ing a  wrap  of  peculiar  color.  If  the  army  passed 
through  the  land  of  one  of  its  tributaries  on  its  way, 
provisions  were  always  furnished  to  it  by  the  people, 
and  friends  and  allies  brought  presents  as  a  token  of 
good-will. 

The  Mexicans  needed  no  other  strongholds  than  their 
massive  houses  and  temples.  The  country  was  peculiarly 
adapted  to  their  methods  of  warfare.  Paths  like  that 
through  the  famous  pass  of  Thermopylae,  or  still  more 
easily  defended,  were  common.  There  were  hilltops 
and  precipices  from  which  stones  could  be  rolled  down 
on  an  assailing  force,  and  retreats  among  the  mountains 
where  a  great  army  could  hide  in  ambuscade  as  did 
thirty  thousand  of  the  men  of  Israel  behind  the  city 
of  Ai  in  Joshua's  day.  The  burning  of  the  teocallis 
was  always  the  token  of  victory.  The  warriors  of  the 
place  who  survived  either  fled  or  were  taken  captive, 
and  the  women  and  children,  who  were  generally  sent 
to  some  cliff-dwelling  among  the  hills  before  the  storm 


O.V  THE  WAR-PATH.  65 

broke  on  their  homes,  came  back — if  they  came  at  all — 
to  a  scene  of  utter  desolation. 

But  war  did  not  always  end   thus.     When  a  tribe 
refused  to  pay  a  valuable  tribute,  no  attempt  was  made 
to  destroy  it,  but  merely  to  force  obedience.     The  Aztecs 
once  paid  tribute  to  the  Tepanacs,  a  tribe  on  the  main- 
land,   near   Mexico.     When   their   city   became   strong 
enough  to  rebel,  a  struggle  took  place  for  the  mastery, 
in  which   the  Aztecs  were  victorious.     The  immediate 
cause  of  this  war  was  the  possession  of  the  great  spring 
at    Chapultepec,  by  which  the  city  was  supplied  with 
water  through  an  aqueduct.     As  this  was  on  the  yaotlaUi, 
or  neutral  ground,  between  the  Aztecs  and  Tepanacs,  any 
attempt  of  the  latter  to  cut  off  the  water-supply  of  Mexico 
was  taken  as  a  challenge  to  war.     Their  success  in  this 
struggle  made  the  Aztecs  the  leading  power  in  the  table- 
land.    They  became  the  head  of  a  strong  confederacy  of 
tribes,  and  ruled  with  a  high  hand  for  nearly  a  hundred 
years,  until,  hated  and  feared  by  all  their  neighbors  and 
crushed  at  home  by  the  despotism  of  the  council,  the 
Aztecs  were  ripe  for  rebellion,  and  their  beautiful  domain 
fell  an  easy  prey  into  the  hands  of  the  foreign  invaders. 
It  is  said  that  when  Montezuma  was  asked  why  he 
had  suffered   the   little  republic  of  Tlascala  to   lift  a 
defiant   head   between   Mexico  and  the  sea,  he  replied 
that  the  Aztecs  would   have   crushed  it   long  ago  but 
that  they  needed  victims  for  sacrifice  and  could  get  them 
readily  in  the  skirmishes  which  constantly  took  place 
between  the  two  tribes.     Thus,  with  war  as  their  chief 
business  in  life  and  a  religion  which  demanded   thou- 
sands of  human  sacrifices  yearly,  the  Aztecs  were  glad 
of  any  pretext  for  an  attack  on  their  neighbors.     The 
choice  of  a  new  war-chief  was  sure  to  bring  on  a  con- 


66  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

flict  with  somebody,  as  the  ceremonies  of  his  induction 
to  office  were  never  complete  until  he  had  brought  home 
a  train  of  captives.  Some  of  these  he  must  capture  with 
his  own  hands — a  feat  which  was  sometimes  accomplished 
by  strategy,  but  oftener  in  a  haud-to-hand  fight.  Al- 
though all  these  tribes  believed  that  heaven  was  made 
for  warriors  and  that  none  had  higher  seats  there  than 
those  who  died  on  the  bloody  stone  of  sacrifice,  yet  they 
had  a  natural  love  of  life,  and  never  yielded  to  their  fate 
without  a  struggle.  A  Mexican's  first  aim  in  battle  was 
not  to  kill  his  enemies,  but  to  take  captives.  He  would 
sacrifice  a  score  of  lives  rather  than  fail  in  this  aim. 

The  tactics  of  the  Aztecs  in  war  were  those  of  rude 
nations.  A  favorite  device  was  to  feign  retreat,  and 
thus  to  decoy  their  victims  into  snares.  Their  ingenuity 
in  such  stratagems  was  equaled  only  by  the  patience  with 
which  they  were  carried  into  execution.  The  most  dar- 
ing warriors,  and  even  the  " chief-of-men "  himself,  would 
hide  in  some  pit  dug  on  a  road  toward  which  the  enemy 
was  enticed,  and  here  they  would  remain  motionless  for 
hours,  even  days,  like  tigers  waiting  for  a  chance  to 
spring  on  their  hapless  victims.  They  never  left  the 
field  without  carrying  oif  their  dead  and  wounded — a 
custom  which  sometimes  turned  victory  into  defeat. 

These  tribes  all  went  into  battle  with  a  defiant  war- 
whoop.  Each  clan  had  its  own  war-cry — usually  its  own 
name — and  every  pueblo  had  its  standard.  The  device 
of  Mexico  was  a  cactus  on  a  stone,  rudely  painted  on  a 
banner  and  carried  on  a  pole  high  over  the  troop  by  a 
chosen  standard-bearer ;  and  it  was  as  high  a  point  of 
honor  then  as  now  to  defend  the  flag  at  all  risks. 

When  captives  were  taken,  they  were  secured,  if  many, 
by  wooden  collars  and  fastened  together  in  gangs ;  if  few, 


ON  THE  WAR-PATH.  67 

each  warrior  cared  for  his  own  prize.  In  the  old  picture- 
records  of  this  country  and  carved  on  the  stones  of  the 
monuments  captors  are  seen  holding  prisoners  by  their 
long  hair.  On  the  sides  of  the  sacrificial  stone  these 
scenes  are  carefully  cut,  the  hand  of  one  figure  being 
raised  to  grasp  the  head-ornaments  of  his  victim,  who 
drops  his  weapons  helplessly.  Sometimes  the  captives 
helped  to  bear  the  spoils  of  war  to  the  city  of  the  con- 
queror. In  every  case  they  were  considered  as  sacred 
objects  devoted  to  the  war-god,  and  were  well  fed  and 
cared  for.  Ransom  was  entirely  out  of  the  question. 
The  captor  dared  not  spare  his  victim's  life  even  when 
his  own  was  in  danger,  as  any  loss  in  this  respect  was 
defrauding  the  war-god.  The  lynx-eyed  priests  were 
ever  on  the  watch  to  detect  and  punish  those  who  would 
be  merciful,  if  any  such  there  were  in  those  dark  days. 
The  careless  warrior  who  lost  a  captive  and  made  the 
excuse  of  one  of  old,  "As  thy  servant  was  busy  here  and 
there  he  was  gone,"  met  the  same  doom :  "  Thy  life  shall 
go  for  his  life."  When  the  wretched  victims  had  been 
led  home  in  triumph,  they  were  taken  first  to  the  chief 
teocattis,  or  house  of  the  gods,  aud  after  bowing  to  Hum- 
ming-Bird  and  his  hideous  brother  they  were  marched 
solemnly  around  the  great  stone  of  sacrifice,  then  taken 
away  to  a  house  set  apart  for  those  who  were  thus  ap- 
pointed to  die.  The  home-coming  of  such  an  expedition 
was  a  great  event.  The  warriors  were  received  with  the 
wildest  din  of  music  ;  flowers  were  showered  upon  them, 
and  the  air  was  filled  with  the  odor  of  burning  frankin- 
cense. The  old  men  of  the  tribe  carried  the  censers, 
standing  in  rows  on  each  side  of  the  path,  their  long 
hair  tied  on  the  back  of  their  heads  with  gay  strips  of 
leather,  and  sometimes  they  bore  a  shield  with  a  rod  and 


68  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

rattle,  which  they  sounded  in  token  of  rejoicing  that  they 
were  the  fathers  of  such  braves.  Along  the  road  were 
erected  bowers  decked  with  the  choicest  flowers  to  be 
gathered  in  that  flowery  land. 

In  1497  a  great  army  was  sent  out  by  the  confederated 
tribes.  It  went  far  southward  to  Tehuantepec,  and  came 
back  loaded  with  plunder  and  with  multitudes  of  captives. 
Some  of  the  ruined  cities  now  found  iu  those  solitudes 
may  then  have  been  laid  waste,  but  no  record  remains  to 
tell  of  the  scenes  of  carnage  and  rapine  which  must  have 
marked  this  campaign.  The  confederates  afterward 
ravaged  all  the  Totonac  region  as  far  east  as  the  Gulf- 
coast,  swept  it  clean  and  recolonized  it  with  their  own 
people. 

The  victors  in  the  tribal  wars  cared  not  to  change  the 
customs  or  the  laws  of  a  subjugated  people ;  all  they  asked 
was  tribute,  and  the  question  was  often  settled  in  one 
battle.  When  this  was  concluded  by  the  burning  of 
the  teocallis — the  signal  of  surrender — the  amount  and 
kind  of  articles  of  tribute  and  the  time  when  this  was 
to  be  paid  were  immediately  arranged.  The  vanquished 
party  were  henceforth  watched  with  jealous  care  by  a  tax- 
gatherer  appointed  by  the  victor ;  a  house  was  set  apart 
for  his  use  and  as  a  place  of  storage  for  the  tribute  until 
it  should  be  sent  away.  Some  tribes  paid  their  tribute 
every  eighty  days,  and  others  once  a  year.  This  tribute- 
money  was  sometimes  borne  to  the  capital  on  the  backs  of 
human  victims  who  had  been  chosen  by  lot  to  suffer  for  the 
tribe  on  the  altars  of  the  conqueror.  These  sad  proces- 
sions must  have  been  a  common  sight  even  in  the  few 
peaceful  days  known  among  these  war-loving  people. 

After  each  fresh  conquest  the  Aztecs  adorned  their  city 
with  a  new  temple,  bearing  the  name  of  the  conquered 


ON  THE  WAR-PATH.  69 

people  and  filled  with  their  gods.  These  senseless 
blocks  of  wood  and  stone  were  prisoners,  and  as  snch 
were  punished  severely  when  the  tribe  they  represented 
rebelled.  The  victors  sought  to  make  the  worship  of 
these  captured  idols  acceptable  by  stationing  in  each 
such  building  priests  from  the  tribe  from  which  the 
idols  were  taken. 

At  the  time  of  the  Spanish  invasion  the  whole  country 
seemed  to  be  on  the  eve  of  one  of  those  terrible  conflicts 
by  which  some  of  the  fairest  portions  of  the  earth  had 
been  desolated.  The  Aztecs  had  maintained  then*  suprem- 
acy for  nearly  a  hundred  years,  and  now  the  tribes  far  and 
near,  outraged  by  their  oppressions,  were  brooding  over 
their  wrongs,  awaiting  some  leader  who  should  head  a 
new  confederacy  and  mete  out  justice  to  Mexico.  She 
was  drunk  with  human  blood,  and  the  tide  of  war  was 
turning — as,  in  time,  it  always  will  turn  against  a  people 
whose  only  right  is  might.  Unheard  by  it,  God  had 
said  of  the  beautiful  Aztec  city,  as  he  had  said  of  Baby- 
lon of  old,  "The  cup  which  she  hath  filled,  fill  to  her 
double." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

SACRED  PLACES  AND  PEOPLE. 

A  BOUT  thirty  miles  north  of  Mexico  are  the  remains 
-£-*-  of  Teotihuacan,  a  city  so  old  that  it  was  falling  into 
decay  when  the  Aztecs  entered  the  valley.  The  ground 
upon  which  it  stood  seems  to  have  been  built  over  by 
succeeding  generations.  Three  successive  concrete  plat- 
forms for  houses,  one  above  the  other,  have  been  found 
buried  under  the  cornfields  which  have  flourished  there 
for  centuries.  So  large  was  this  city  that  its  ruins  cover 
a  space  twenty  miles  in  circumference.  It  was  a  shrine 
where  of  olden  time  the  native  worshipers  flocked  with 
their  votive  offerings — little  clay  images,  men's  heads, 
arrows  and  pottery  decorated  in  bright  colors.  Thou- 
sands of  these  now  strew  the  plain  or  are  brought  to 
light  by  the  rude  ploughs  of  the  country.  There  are 
two  large  pyramids — one  dedicated  to  the  sun,  the  other 
to  the  moon — standing  like  grass-grown  hills  among 
these  ruins.  One  wide,  straight  street — called  "  the 
Path  of  the  Dead" — is  raised  above  the  level  of  the 
plain  and  leads  up  to  the  pyramid  of  the  moon.  This 
is  bordered  by  many  small  pyramids,  which  are  sup- 
posed to  contain  the  now-nameless  builders  of  these 
great  monuments. 

This  worship  of  the  sun  and  the  moon  seems  to  have 
at  one  time  prevailed  throughout  Mexico,  and  was  still 

70 


SACRED  PLACES  AND  PEOPLE.  71 

retained  in  all  the  temples  when  other  forms  of  idolatry 
were  introduced  by  later  settlers.  In  some  forgotten  age 
of  their  history  the  Mexicans  had  "  exchanged  the  truth 
of  God  for  a  lie."  Their  belief  in  an  invisible  Creator 
and  Ruler  of  the  universe  and  the  names  and  the  char- 
acter they  gave  him  show  that  the  ancestors  of  these 
people  must  have  known  of  the  one  living  and  true 
God.  They  spoke  of  him  as  "  He  who  is  all  in  him- 
self," "He  in  whom  we  live,  all-wise,  all-seeing,  al- 
mighty and  everywhere  present,  the  Giver  of  every  good, 
a  Being  of  infinite  purity  and  grace  and  the  hearer  and 
answerer  of  prayer."  No  images  of  this  God  were  made ; 
a  prayer  said  to  have  been  found  among  the  old  Aztec 
records  tells  us  how  he  was  regarded.  Besides  the  sad 
picture  which  it  gives  us  of  the  famines  which  often 
prevailed  in  Mexico,  it  reveals  the  breathings  of  one 
who,  like  Cornelius  of  old,  was  "a  devout  man  and 
prayed  to  God  alway:" 

"  O  our  Lord,  protector  most  strong  and  compassionate, 
invisible,  impalpable,  thou  art  the  giver  of  life.  Lord 
of  all  and  Lord  of  all  battles,  I  present  myself  here 
before  thee  to  say  a  few  words ;  the  need  of  the  poor 
people,  the  people  of  none  estate  or  intelligence.  Know, 
O  Lord,  that  thy  subjects  and  servants  suffer  a  sore 
poverty  that  cannot  be  told  of  more  than  that  it  is  a  sore 
poverty  and  desolateness.  The  men  have  no  garments, 
nor  the  women,  to  cover  themselves  with,  but  only  rags 
rent  in  every  part,  that  let  the  wind  and  cold  in.  If 
they  be  merchants,  they  now  sell  only  cakes  of  salt  and 
broken  pepper.  The  people  that  have  something  despise 
them,  so  that  they  go  out  to  sell  from  door  to  door  and 
from  house  to  house ;  and  when  they  sell  nothing,  they 
sit  down  sadly  by  some  fence  or  wall  or  in  some  corner, 


72  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

biting  their  lips  and  gnawing  their  nails  for  the  hunger 
that  is  in  them.  They  look  on  one  side  and  on  the  other 
at  the  mouths  of  those  who  pass  by,  hoping,  peradven- 
ture,  that  some  one  will  speak  some  word  to  them." 

Hungry  Fox,  a  great  Tezcucan  chief,  built  a  temple  to 
this  god  toward  the  close  of  his  long  life,  when  he  had 
become  heartsick  at  the  abominations  of  the  religion  of 
the  Mexicans.  This  temple  was  nine  stories  high.  A ' 
tenth  story,  overhanging  the  others  like  a  canopy,  was 
painted  black,  to  represent  the  sky  at  night,  gilded  with 
stars  outside  and  decorated  within  with  precious  gem& 
and  metals  in  the  highest  style  of  art  known  to  his  peo- 
ple. This  temple  he  dedicated  "  To  the  Unknown  God." 
No  image  of  him  was  allowed  in  this  beautiful  shrine, 
and  nothing  but  incense,  fruit  and  flowers  was  oifered 
upon  its  altar.  A  sonorous  piece  of  metal  struck  by  a 
mallet  called  the  worshipers  together. 

The  common  people  seem  to  have  known  but  very  little 
of  this  good  and  great  being.  The  gods  they  served  were 
like  those  who  made  them — fierce,  unholy  and  delighting 
in  blood.  Thirteen  of  these  were  superior  to  the  rest, 
and  two  hundred  were  of  lower  rank.  At  the  head  of 
all  these  the  Aztecs  put  their  frightful  war-god,  Huiti- 
zilapochtli,  or  "  Humming-Bird."  This  god  was  repre- 
sented as  a  man  with  a  broad  face,  a  wide  mouth  and 
terrible  eyes.  He  was  girt  about  with  a  golden  serpent 
ablaze  with  jewels,  and  held  a  bow  in  one  hand  and  a 
bunch  of  golden  arrows  in  the  other.  His  dress  glit- 
tered with  gold,  pearls  and  precious  stones.  He  wore  a 
necklace  of  human  faces  wrought  in  silver  and  hearts  of 
gold.  His  left  foot  was  shod  with  the  feathers  of  the 
tiny  humming-birds  which  gave  him  his  name.  At  the 
feet  of  this  god  stood  a  little  one  called  Milziton,  or 


MEXICAN  GOB   OF   WAR,   HUlTIZlLAPOCHTLI,   OR  HUMMING-BIRD. 


74  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

"  Little  Quick  One,"  which  was  borne  by  the  priest  at 
the  head  of  the  army  in  time  of  war.  When  this 
hideous  idol  was  first  seen  by  Europeans,  there  stood 
before  it  a  brazier  of  burning  coals  in  which  lay  three 
hearts  just  torn  from  the  bleeding  breasts  of  human 
victims. 

Humming-Bird  had  a  younger  brother,  a  favorite  with 
the  Tezcucans,  who  was  also  a  war-god.  His  name, 
Hacahuepanenexcolzin,  is  almost  as  bad  as  his  dispo- 
sition, and  we  would  not  venture  to  "write  it  except  to 
give  one  of  the  curiosities  of  Mexican  spelling.  These 
two  gods  stood  side  by  side  in  the  old  temple  in  Mexico, 
fitting  representations  of  the  dark-minded  priests  who 
made  them.  "The  smell  of  this  place,"  says  Berual 
Diaz,  an  old  Spanish  soldier  whom  we  shall  often  quote, 
"  was  that  of  a  charnel-house."  We  cannot  wonder  that 
whitewash  and  scrubbing-brushes  were  always  brought 
into  use  when  Cortez  got  possession  of  one  of  these  blood- 
stained shrines. 

Another  prominent  figure  in  Mexican  mythology  was 
Tezcaltipoca,  "  the  Hearer  of  Prayer."  His  image  was 
of  black  shining  stone.  An  ear  hung  by  a  string  from 
his  neck,  on  which  smoke  was  pictured,  whose  ascending 
wreaths  represented  the  prayers  of  his  distressed  people. 
Stone  seats  were  put  in  some  street-corners  of  Mexico,  in 
the  hope  that  this  god  would  rest  upon  them  when  he 
visited  the  city.  On  these  sacred  seats  no  one  else  was 
permitted  to  sit. 

By  far  the  most  interesting  character  among  these  gods 
was  that  of  Quetzalcohuatl,  or  "  Feathered  Serpent,"  the 
god  of  the  air.  Stripped  of  all  the  romance  with  which 
he  is  invested,  this  old  hero  appears  as  a  tall,  fair-faced 
man  of  a  different  race  from  any  of  those  which  inhab- 


SACRED  PLACES  AND  PEOPLE.  75 

ited  the  valley.  He  had  a  broad  forehead  and  long  black 
flowing  beard  and  hair,  and  came  to  Mexico  from  some 
distant  land  on  an  errand  of  benevolence.  Some  sup- 
pose him  to  be  the  leader  of  the  Toltec  tribes,  and  to 
have  come  with  their  seven  ships  which  figure  in  Mex- 
ican history;  but  this  is  by  no  means  clear.  Neither 
does  he  seem  to  be  the  Votan  of  other  traditions,  al- 
though he  did  the  same  good  work  among  the  people 
which  is  ascribed  to  that  hero.  It  was  Feathered  Ser- 
pent who  taught  these  still-barbarous  tribes  those  arts  of 
peace  so  foreign  to  savage  natures.  The  Mexican  calen- 
dar and  picture-writing  were  his  invention.  The  riches 
which  lay  hidden  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth  were  all  un- 
known until  he  unveiled  them  and  showed  men  how  to 
dig  and  refine  gold  and  silver  and  to  work  in  all  precious 
metals.  During  his  stay  the  land  became  a  very  Eden. 
Cities  arose,  and  in  the  heart  of  the  wilderness  fair  fields 
were  opened  to  the  sun.  But  these  bright  days  did  not 
last,  The  powers  of  evil  became  envious  of  the  benev- 
olent god  of  the  air,  and  he  was  obliged  to  flee  for  his 
life. 

The  Mexicans  tell  a  story  of  the  rivalry  between 
Tezcaltipoca  and  Feathered  Serpent  which  is  worthy  of 
heathen  idol-makers.  Tezcaltipoca,  fearing  that  he  was 
about  to  lose  the  reverence  of  the  people,  disguised  him- 
self as  a  hoary-headed  sorcerer  and  persuaded  Feathered 
Serpent  to  drink  pulque,  or  the  fermented  sap  of  the 
maguey.  The  event  proved  that  it  is  no  safer  for  a 
god  to  indulge  in  such  intoxicating  beverages  than  it  is 
for  men  to  do  so.  Poor  Feathered  Serpent  became  tipsy 
and  wandered  out  of  the  country  in  disgrace.  On  his 
way  to  the  sea  to  return  to  his  own  land  he  stopped  at 
Cholula,  where  he  found  hearts  open  to  receive  him; 


76  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

there  he  stayed  for  twenty  years.  The  people  built 
temples  in  his  honor  and  sat  at  his  feet  to  learn.  Like 
Cain,  "  the  Fair  God,"  as  he  was  called,  disapproved  of 
bloody  sacrifices,  and  commanded  his  followers  to  offer 
nothing  on  his  peaceful  altars  but  sweet  incense  and  the 
fruits  of  the  earth.  After  twenty  happy  years  Feathered 
Serpent  left  Mexico  by  the  way  he  came.  His  snake- 
skin  boat  was  waiting  for  him  on  the  shore  of  the  Gulf. 
Turning  to  his  friends  who  had  followed  him,  he  bade 
them  farewell,  promising  that  some  day  he  would  come 
again  from  his  home  toward  the  rising  sun  and  take  pos- 
session of  their  country. 

The  white  race  to  whom  this  old  hero  belonged  are 
indebted  to  him  for  their  successful  entry  into  Mexico. 
At  the  time  the  Spanish  vessels  made  their  appearance, 
in  1517,  there  was  a  universal  expectation  that  the  Fair 
God  was  about  to  return,  and  the  white  sails  of  the  ves- 
sels were  mistaken  for  bright-winged  birds  who  had  come 
to  bring  back  their  benefactor  from  his  long  exile. 

The  Aztecs  adopted  this  god,  among  many  others,  after 
they  came  to  Mexico ;  his  shrine  at  Cholula  was  visited 
by  multitudes  of  devotees  from  all  parts  of  the  country. 
This  city  was  older  than  Mexico,  and  is  supposed  by 
many  to  have  been  founded  by  the  Toltecs.  There,  on 
the  top  of  the  famous  pyramid  of  Cholula,  was  a  large 
hemispherical  temple  in  honor  of  this  Fair  God.  An- 
other temple  was  reared  to  him  within  the  serpent-wall 
of  the  great  temple  of  Mexico ;  it  was  entered  through  a 
gate  fashioned  like  the  mouth  of  a  hideous  dragon.  The 
black,  flame-encircled  face  of  his  image  enshrined  there 
and  the  altar  dripping  with  blood  had  taught  the  people 
to  think  of  him  as  a  fit  companion  for  the  war-god  him- 
self— that  most  bloodthirsty  of  all  Mexican  deities. 


TEMPLE   OF   TIKAL,    A   SUBURB   OF    FLORES,   YUCATAN. 


78  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

There  were  thousands  of  temples  in  Mexico.  They 
were  built  in  the  form  of  terraced  pyramids  with  stair- 
ways on  the  outside  leading  to  a  paved  platform  on  the 
top,  where  all  worship  was  carried  on.  The  great  temple 
of  Mexico  was  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  high. 
Each  of  its  lofty  terraces  had  its  own  flight  of  steps,  ris- 
ing one  above  the  other  on  the  southern  side  of  the  pyra- 
mid. In  their  worship  the  priests,  with  the  victims 
chosen  for  sacrifice,  climbed  the  first  of  these  stairways 
and  passed  entirely  around  the  terrace  until  they  reached 
the  next  flight  of  steps,  and  so,  ascending  in  solemn  pro- 
cession, they  wound  on  up  and  up  to  the  great  altar  in 
sight  of  multitudes  assembled  on  housetops  and  in  the 
great  square  which  surrounded  the  building.  Three 
storied  towers  arose  on  the  flattened  top,  and  between 
these  was  the  awful  stone  of  sacrifice.  The  weight  of 
this  stone  was  twenty-five  tons.  It  was  an  immense 
round  block  of  green  porphyry  elaborately  carved  with 
strange  figures  illustrating  acts  of  worship,  and  humped 
on  its  upper  surface,  so  that  the  breast  of  the  victim, 
bound  and  stretched  upon  it,  could  better  be  reached  by 
the  sacrificial  knife.  In  the  centre  was  a  dishlike  cavity 
with  a  groove  running  from  it  to  the  edge  of  the  altar,  to 
lead  away  the  blood.  The  whole  was  a  mute  but  elo- 
quent witness  to  the  character  of  the  sacrifices  offered 
upon  it. 

Each  temple  was  not  only  a  place  of  worship,  but  a 
watch-tower  from  whose  commanding  height  priestly 
guardians  overlooked  their  congregation.  Like  watch- 
men, they  used  to  call  out  the  hours  of  the  night  through 
their  trumpets.  The  sacred  fires  were  in  two  stoves  near 
the  altar.  These  were  fed  with  wood,  and,  burning  all 
night,  shone  out  over  the  city.  Here,  too,  were  the 


80  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

observatories  where  astrologers  studied  the  heavens  or 
in  that  more  spiritual  worship  they  had  learned  of  the 
Toltecs  adored  the  starry  host  circling  overhead. 

In  the  towers  which  formed  the  corners  of  the  great 
enclosure  were  deposited,  after  cremation,  the  ashes  of  the 
dead  heroes  of  the  tribe.  In  one  of  these,  also,  was  kept 
a  huge  snake-skin  drum,  which  was  used  to  call  the  peo- 
ple together  to  witness  a  sacrifice  or  for  war.  The  sound 
of  this  drum  could  be  heard,  it  is  said,  far  beyond  the 
city  limits — sometimes  to  a  distance  of  eight  miles. 

These  houses  of  worship  were  always  the  principal 
buildings  in  every  town  or  hamlet  in  the  land.  Besides, 
there  were  many  others  on  hilltops  and  sacred  places 
throughout  Mexico.  One  of  them  stood  in  the  centre 
of  every  settlement.  It  was  surrounded  by  a  wall,  which 
was  often  turreted  and  always  high  and  strong ;  for  in 
time  of  war  it  was  around  these  temples  that  the  battle 
raged  most  fiercely.  Fronting  the  principal  roadways, 
there  were  entrances  to  the  enclosure  on  all  four  sides. 
These  roads  stretched,  wide,  clean  and  straight,  several 
miles  beyond  the  city,  so  that  a  retreating  army,  when 
pursued  by  the  enemy,  might  have  no  hindrance  if  it 
sought  the  protection  of  the  gods. 

Standing  on  one  of  the  lofty  towers  of  the  great  tem- 
ple in  Mexico,  Cortez  counted  four  hundred  places  of 
worship  in  that  city  alone.  Of  the  chief  teoeallis  (house 
of  the  gods)  he  writes  to  Charles  V.,  "  The  grandeur  of 
its  architectural  details  no  human  tongue  is  able  to  de- 
scribe." The  square  in  which  it  stood  was  surrounded 
with  the  great  serpent-wall,  each  of  whose  four  sides 
was  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long,  giving  room  within  the 
enclosure  for  a  town  of  five  hundred  inhabitants.  Forty 
high  and  well-built  towers  were  along  this  wall.  The 


SACRED  PLACES  AND  PEOPLE.  81 

largest  of  these,  says  Cortez,  had  forty  steps  leading  to 
its  maiu  body,  which  was  higher  than  the  tower  of  the 
principal  church  in  Seville.  Another  writer  says, 
"There  were  seventy  temples  within  the  square,  each 
one  of  which  had  its  images  and  blazing  fires.  Besides, 
there  were  granaries  where  the  first-fruits  of  the  land 
were  gathered  for  use  in  the  temple,  storehouses  for 
other  kinds  of  tribute,  a  house  of  entertainment  for 
pilgrims  from  a  distance,  a  hospital  tended  by  priests, 
an  arsenal  and  a  library,  besides  a  garden  where  flowers 
were  raised  for  the  temple-service  and  accommodations 
for  many  of  the  priests."  Curious  imagery  wrought  in 
stone,  woodwork  carved,  inlaid  or  richly  painted,  orna- 
mented the  interior  of  every  apartment  of  the  great 
building.*  Within  the  main  temple  were  three  large 
halls  adorned  with  these  sculptured  figures  and  the  rich 
feather-work  hangings  which  were  among  the  highest 
efforts  of  Aztec  art.  An  army  of  priests  was  needed 
for  the  elaborate  service  of  this  temple.  It  is  said  that 
five  thousand  were  employed  in  the  great  teoccdlis,  besides 
women  and  children  in  multitudes.  Seventy  fires  were 
to  be  kept  up  day  and  night.  Incense  was  offered  four 
times  every  day — viz.,  sunrise,  midday,  sunset  and  mid- 
night. Besides  their  sacrificial  duties,  the  priests  were 
the  school-teachers,  historians,  poets  and  painters  of  the 
tribe.  They  must  have  been  hideous  objects,  dressed  in 
long  black  robes,  with  blackened  faces  and  tongues  torn 
and  bleeding  with  frequent  penances.  Their  hair,  which 

*  In  the  year  1881  excavations  were  made  in  front  of  the  cathedral 
in  Mexico,  where  this  building  once  stood,  and  a  few  feet  below  the 
surface  were  found  the  old  capitals  of  the  door-posts  of  the  temple. 
They  were  heads  of  large  stone  serpents,  each  ten  feet  long  and  five 
feet  high,  with  feathered  ornaments  carved  out  of  solid  stone. 
6 


82  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

was  never  cut  nor  combed  from  the  time  they  entered  the 
temple-service  until  they  left  it,  was  matted  with  blood 
and  with  cords  twisted  into  the  long  maas.  The  chief 
priests  were  more  elegantly  dressed  on  state  occasions. 
A  costly  and  magnificent  robe  like  that  of  the  god  whose 
day  he  celebrated  marked  the  high  priest  of  the  nation. 
A  huge  tuft  of  white  cotton  worn  on  the  breast  was  his 
sign  of  office.  There  were  a  few  priestesses,  who  lived  a 
nun's  life  in  the  cloisters  of  this  temple.  Both  priests 
and  nuns  were  free  to  come  and  to  go,  but  those  who 
had  made  a  vow  never  to  marry  were  punished  with 
the  utmost  rigor  in  case  they  broke  their  vow. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE  HABITATIONS  OF  CRUELTY. 

Aztecs  believed  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
-L  both  of  men  and  of  beasts.  Heroes  who  died  in 
battle  and  those  who  sacrificed  themselves  to  the  gods 
had  the  highest  place  their  heaven  could  offer.  They 
were  supposed  to  be  in  the  service  of  the  Sun,  and  that 
after  singing  in  his  train  as  he  passed  through  the  heavens 
their  souls  went  to  beautify  the  clouds  and  birds  and 
flowers  with  colors 

"  Bright  as  a  disbanded  rainbow." 

Even  women  and  little  children — especially  those  who 
died  in  the  service  of  the  gods — had  as  bright  a  hope 
as  heathenism  could  offer.  After  death  the  women  spent 
four  years  in  heaven,  and  then  were  permitted  to  become 
birds,  with  the  privilege  of  coming  back  to  the  scenes  of 
earth  if  they  wished,  to  live  on  honey  and  flowers.  Hell 
was  merely  a  place  of  darkness. 

Yet,  with  these  comparatively  agreeable  provisions  for 
the  future,  the  Aztec  religion,  wherever  it  prevailed,  made 
this  world  "the  region  and  shadow  of  death."  The 
Psalmist  must  have  had  in  mind  such  a  religion  as 
this  when  he  prayed  that  God  would  have  respect  to 
the  covenant,  since  the  "  dark  places  of  the  earth  were 
full  of  the  habitations  of  cruelty."  Never,  in  any  nation, 
was  human  sacrifice  carried  to  so  frightful  an  extent  as 

83 


84  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

among  these  refined  and  cultured   Indian  tribes.     The 

O 

practice  had  been  common  among  the  Aztecs  from  the 
earliest  times,  and  gave  to  the  whole  race  a  fierce  and 
gloomy  character  which  made  them  hated  by  all  their 
neighbors.  The  position  which  they  gained  as  head  of 
the  three  confederate  tribes  afforded  them  an  opportunity 
to  engraft  this  hideous  custom  on  the  milder  worship  of 
the  people  around  the  lake.  For  about  one  hundred 
years,  or  during  the  time  of  this  supremacy,  human 
sacrifices  and  the  sacrificial  eating  of  human  flesh  pre- 
vailed throughout  Mexico  as  never  before.  About  the 
time  of  the  Spanish  conquest  the  burden  of  such  a  re- 
ligion became  intolerable,  and  Mexico  seemed  as  ripe  for 
destruction  as  was  -old  Sodom  or  the  Canaanites  when 
their  cup  of  iniquity  was  full.  From  Yucatan,  on  the 
far  south-east,  to  the  most  distant  of  the  Nahua  tribes, 
on  the  north,  the  altars  reeked  with  human  blood.  The 
practice  was  so  universal,  and  so  many  victims  were  at 
last  demanded,  that  death  in  this  terrible  form  must 
have  stared  every  one  in  the  face.  A  large  tribe  on  the 
Pacific  slope  was  so  nearly  exterminated  in  one  of  the 
wars  begun  and  carried  on  to  obtain  captives  for  sacrifice 
that  men  were  not  left  to  till  the  ground  or  work  the 
mines ;  all  who  had  not  been  slain  outright  in  defending 
their  homes  were  borne  away  to  die  on  Aztec  altars.  A 
colony  was  sent  over  from  Mexico  city  to  take  possession 
of  the  empty  houses  and  unharvested  fields,  while  the 
proud  cities  enthroned  on  the  shore  of  the  lake  sought 
for  other  communities  to  lay  waste.  If  silent  walls 
could  speak,  many  a  beautiful  city  among  the  scores 
now  in  mournful  ruin  throughout  Mexico  could  tell 
of  scenes  of  carnage  when,  in  the  name  of  the  gods 
they  all  worshiped,  the  foe  came  down  upon  them  in 


AZTEC  GODDESS   OF   DEATH. 


86  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

fierce  attack  and  swept  away  the  inhabitants  as  with  a 
besom  of  destruction. 

In  these  days  of  unbelief  there  are  some  who  doubt 
the  accounts  given  by  both  Spanish  and  native  historians 
of  human  beings  kept  to  fatten  like  cattle  in  a  stall,  of 
still-palpitating  bodies  thrown  from  the  high  altar  down 
to  the  captor  and  his  friends,  who  stood  waiting  to  re- 
ceive this  horrible  provision  for  a  decorous  feast  to  be 
eaten  as  sacred  food  at  the  command  of  the  gods.  But 
these  writers,  though  differing  from  each  other  in  many 
things,  agree  in  their  testimony  concerning  this.  Cortez, 
who  is  apt  to  be  more  moderate  in  his  statements  than 
his  followers,  says  of  one  of  the  Nahua  tribes  in  his 
letters  to  the  king,  "  These  people  eat  human  flesh — a 
fact  so  notorious  that  I  have  not  taken  the  trouble  to 
send  Your  Majesty  any  proof  of  it."  During  the  siege 
of  Mexico  the  Tlascalan  allies  of  Cortez  subsisted  large- 
ly on  the  bodies  of  the  slain,  and  Montezuma  himself 
was  reproved  by  his  Spanish  visitors  for  this  horrible 
practice. 

One  of  the  descendants  of  Hungry  Fox,  the  great 
Tezcucan  chief,  wrote  in  Spanish  an  interesting  history 
of  his  people.  In  this  he  says  that  his  great  ancestor 
became  disgusted  with  the  sacrifices  and  cannibal  feasts 
in  which  they  engaged  during  their  connection  with  the 
Aztecs,  and  that  before  their  confederacy  was  broken  up 
he  made  an  effort  to  put  a  stop  to  all  such  practices  and 
to  return  to  the  milder  rites  of  their  star-worshiping 
ancestors.  But  his  voice  was  raised  in  vain  ;  the  old 
priests  shook  their  matted  locks  and  protested  against 
his  innovations.  They  pointed  to  Tenochtitlan,  across 
the  lake,  as  an  instance  of  the  glory  and  success  to  be 
won  by  the  faithful  votaries  of  the  war-god.  To  give 


THE  HABITATIONS  OF  CRUELTY.  87 

weight  to  their  influence,  the  tide  of  battle  began  to  turn 
against  the  three  confederate  tribes,  and  Hungry  Fox 
was  obliged  to  yield  to  the  popular  clamor  for  human 
victims  wherewith  to  appease  the  anger  of  Humming- 
Bird,  the  insatiable  war-god. 

Every  month  in  the  year  had  its  bloody  festivals. 
At  one  of  these  the  handsomest  and  bravest  of  all  the 
captives  was  for  one  year  named  Tezcaltipoca,  after  one 
of  the  principal  gods,  and  was  obliged  to  illustrate  by 
his  life  and  death  the  vanity  of  all  earthly  things.  For 
one  year  he  was  dressed  in  the  most  elegant  and  costly 
robes,  housed  in  the  most  luxurious  dwelling  the  city 
afforded,  married  to  four  beautiful  girls  and  regaled  with 
flowers,  music  and  sweet  odors ;  his  table  was  loaded 
with  dainties  and  his  couch  was  royal  in  its  comfort  and 
decoration.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  was  carried  away 
from  his  splendid  home  and  gay  attendants,  stripped  of 
his  raiment  and  led  with  solemn  burial-chants  to  a  little 
temple  outside  the  city  to  die  on  the  altar.  As  the  fatal 
knife  descended  the  old  priest  called  on  the  gazing  crowd 
to  note  this  scene  as  the  end  of  his  sermon  on  life.  Three 
times  a  year,  Tlaloc,  god  of  storms,  demanded  a  human 
sacrifice.  His  home  was  in  the  fiery  crater  of  Popocate- 
petl. In  March,  when  the  people  prayed  that  the  clouds 
which  overhung  his  throne  might  pour  out  an  abundance 
of  rain  on  the  ever-thirsty  earth,  little  children  were  of- 
fered. Three  times  each  year  women  were  sacrificed. 
Once,  in  its  closing  days,  when  Talconian,  mother  of  all 
gods,  held  high  festival,  a  female  prisoner  suffered.  She 
was  obliged  to  dance  until  the  last  moment,  then  was 
beheaded  and  skinned  and  had  her  body  thrown  at  the 
feet  of  the  war-god.  At  one  time  two  perfect  victims 
were  called  for  at  once — one  for  the  war-god,  the  other 


88  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

for  Tezcaltipoca.  At  the  time  corresponding  with  our 
month  of  October,  during  a  feast  called  "  the  Coming  of 
the  Gods,"  the  priests  scattered  corn  meal  on  the  floor  in 
the  place  where  the  gods  were  expected  to  enter,  hoping 
to  find  the  sacred  footprints  of  this  chief  deity.  They 
were  not  likely  to  be  disappointed  for  want  of  contriv- 
ance on  the  part  of  these  "  medicine-men."  * 

How  far  the  priests  were  able  to  deceive  themselves  is 
shown  by  their  long  and  severe  penances.  They  fasted 
sometimes  to  the  verge  of  starvation.  They  pierced  them- 
selves with  thorns,  bled  their  ears  and  cut  holes  in  their 
tongues,  through  which  sticks  were  thrust.  It  must  have 
been  difficult  for  a  priest  thus  maimed  to  speak  intelligibly. 
In  times  of  great  calamity  an  Aztec  chief  and  a  number 
of  his  followers  are  said  to  have  offered  their  lives  as  a 
voluntary  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  their  country.  Priests 
have  been  known  to  retire  to  the  wilderness  for  a  year's 
mortification  of  the  flesh.  Building  a  small  hut,  the 
devotee  lived  there  alone,  without  light  or  fire  and  with 
scarcely  enough  of  uncooked  maize  to  keep  himself  alive. 
No  man  could  go  through  this  "  great  fast "  more  than 
once  in  a  lifetime. 

The  manner  of  the  victims'  death  afforded  scope  for 
variety.  They  were  often  dressed  in  fancy  costumes  and 
made  to  dance  in  character.  Sometimes,  like  gladiators, 
they  fought  for  their  lives  on  a  large  stone  platform  in 
the  great  square  of  the  city.  The  goddess  of  harvests 

*  On  the  island  of  Cozumel,  one  of  the  sacred  places  visited  by 
thousands  of  pilgrims  from  Mexico,  the  Spaniards  found  a  huge 
image  standing  close  against  an  inner  wall  of  the  temple.  Behind 
this  was  a  private  door  belonging  to  the  priests,  which  opened 
through  this  wall  into  the  back  of  the  idol,  whereby  a  priest  en- 
tered and  from  his  safe  hiding-place  answered  the  prayers  of  the 
people  in  an  audible  voice. 


THE  HABITATIONS  OF  CRUELTY.  89 

was  propitiated  by  a  human  victim  ground  between  mill- 
stones like  the  corn  the  deity  was  asked  to  bestow. 

Every  expedition  in  time  of  war,  every  trading-party 
which  set  out  on  its  travels,  the  election  of  a  head-chief, 
the  inauguration  of  a  new  one  or  the  dedication  of  a  tem- 
ple was  marked  by  extraordinary  sacrifices.  When  the 
great  teocattis  in  Mexico  was  dedicated,  in  1486,  forty 
thousand  persons  are  said  to  have  been  sacrificed  to  the 
terrible  war-god.  We  would  believe  this  to  be  an  ex- 
aggeration but  for  the  fact  that  the  skulls  were  pre- 
served in  houses  called  zompantli,  or  "skull-place." 
One  Spaniard,  who  was  curious  enough  to  count  these 
ghastly  relics  arranged  in  order,  gives  the  number  as 
one  hundred  and  thirty-six  thousand. 

Among  the  pretexts  by  which  the  victims  were  per- 
suaded to  yield  up  their  lives  was  one  common  among 
Romanists  when  a  young  woman  enters  a  convent.  She 
goes  to  become  the  bride  of  Christ ;  so  the  Aztec  girls 
were  given  to  the  gods.  A  story  is  told  of  one  poor 
woman  who  was  so  determined  to  forego  this  honor  that 
she  fought  for  life.  In  her  case  it  seemed  that  self-sur- 
render was  necessary  to  make  the  sacrifice  acceptable,  and 
after  struggling  with  her  for  a  while  they  let  her  go. 

The  most  solemn  of  all  festivals  was  that  of  "  year- 
binding,"  as  it  was  called,  which  marked  the  close  of  the 
cycle  of  fifty -two  years.  The  people  were  taught  that  in 
the  course  of  ages  the  world  was  to  be  four  times  de- 
stroyed and  renewed,  and  that  each  of  these  events  was 
to  be  looked  for  at  these  semi-centennial  periods.  As 
the  time  drew  near  they  gave  themselves  up  to  gloom 
and  despair.  They  did  penances  for  past  sins,  and  then 
faithlessly  threw  away  their  idols  altogether,  broke  np 
their  furniture,  rent  their  clothes,  neglected  field  and 


90  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

mine,  workshop  and  garden,  and  ended  by  a  fast  of 
thirteen  days.  The  holy  fire  which  had  been  kindled 
fifty-two  years  before  on  the  temple-roofs  was  now  suf- 
fered to  die  out,  and  the  people  sat  down  in  a  darkness 
of  soul  over  which  pitying  angels  must  have  wept.  As 
the  old  year  died  the  priests  marched  in  solemn  proces- 
sion to  a  lofty  hill  a  few  miles  outside  the  city,  bearing 
•with  them  the  fairest  of  victims — some  noble  young 
chieftain  taken  in  battle  and  reserved  until  this  fateful 
day  to  be  offered  in  sacrifice.  He  was  stretched  across 
the  altar  with  his  face  upturned  to  the  sky,  while  the 
shaggy-haired  priests  stood  about  him.  chanting  their 
wild  temple-hymns.  Would  the  gods  accept  the  sacri- 
fice, or  would  the  spirits  of  evil  prevail?  Unseen  by 
mortal  eyes,  the  air  was  full  of  them.  From  the  poorest 
hut  by  the  lake-side  to  the  most  lordly  pueblo  in  the  land, 
men  were  waiting  in  breathless  silence  for  an  answer. 
Mothers  covered  the  faces  of  their  little  ones  lest  malig- 
nant deities  engaged  in  the  battle  supposed  to  be  going  on 
in  the  air  should  swoop  down  and  carry  them  away.  The 
devoted  father  cut  his  ears  till  the  blood  flowed,  hoping 
thus  to  avert  all  evil  from  his  family.  All  eyes  gazed 
aloft  till  the  Pleiades,  slowly  gliding  through  the  heav- 
ens, should  pass  the  zenith.  The  suspense  grew  awful. 
Would  Tlaloc,  god  of  storms,  rise  in  his  fury  from  his 
throne  on  yonder  volcano  and  sweep  the  valley  with  a 
whirlwind  ?  Would  their  queenly  cities  go  down  in  the 
salt  floods  of  Tezcuco,  or  would  an  earthquake  prelude 
the  mighty  catastrophe  which  would  ruin  a  guilty  world? 
Slowly  the  moments  pass.  The  stars  go  by  overhead,  and 
then,  at  a  signal  from  priestly  hands,  a  shout  rends  the 
air.  The  Seven  Stars  have  crossed  the  dreaded  line :  the 
world  is  safe  for  another  fifty  years.  The  sacred  fire  is 


THE  HABITATIONS  OF  CRUELTY.  91 

now  kindled  anew  in  the  bleeding  breast  of  the  victim 
on  the  altar,  and  fleet  runners  carry  it  to  temples,  cities 
and  hamlets  far  and  wide.  The  people  give  themselves 
up  to  fourteen  days  of  feasting  and  merriment.  They 
refurnish  their  houses,  spin  and  weave,  and  plant  their 
fields.  Life  flows  on  as  of  old.  But,  in  its  best  estate, 
all  Mexico  sat  in  darkness.  Some  there  were,  no  doubt, 
who  felt  after  God,  sitting  in  humble  silence  at  his  feet, 
or  as  good  stewards  dispensed  his  bounty  to  others.  To 
such  his  love  and  fatherly  pity  must  have  been  revealed, 
since  "  in  every  nation  he  that  feareth  him  and  worketh 
righteousness  is  accepted  of  him."  But  no  song  of  joy- 
ful trust  has  floated  down  to  us  out  of  the  dense  dark- 
ness that  covered  the  land.  There  was  many  a  cry  like 
that  of  Solomon — "  Vanity  of  vanities  " — many  a  prayer 
for  mercy,  but  none  had  reached  the  firm  foundation 
where  the  triumphant  Psalmist  stood  when  he  sang, 
"  God  is  our  refuge  and  strength,  a  very  present  help  in 
trouble.  Therefore  will  not  we  fear,  though  the  earth  be 
removed,  and  though  the  mountains  be  carried  into  the 
midst  of  the  sea ;  though  the  waters  thereof  roar  and  be 
troubled,  though  the  mountains  shake  with  the  swelling 
thereof." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

CIVILIZATION  OF  MEXICO. 

WHILE  the  Mexicans  built  temples  to  the  suu  and 
the  moon  like  those  in  which  their  ancestors  wor- 
shiped in  Asia  and  retained  many  of  the  religious  forms 
which  prevailed  there,  they  forgot  many  other  things  which 
had  been  known  in  the  Old  World  from  the  earliest  ages. 
In  the  book  of  Job  iron  is  spoken  of  as  taken  out  of 
the  earth ;  in  Mexico  mountains  of  iron-ore  are  found, 
but  no  use  was  made  of  it  until  Europeans  showed  the 
people  what  to  do  with  this  most  valuable  of  metals. 

Antediluvians  like  Jabal,  "  the  father  of  all  such  as 
dwell  in  tents  and  such  as  have  cattle,"  and  old  Tubal 
Cain,  who  "  worked  in  brass  and  iron,"  would  have 
looked  upon  the  Mexicans  as  far  behind  the  times  in 
which  they  lived.  The  farmers  of  ancient  Syria,  such 
as  Gideon  and  Oman  the  Jebusite,  taught  oxen  to  tread 
out  the  grain  on  their  threshing-floors;  the  Mexicans  had 
never  heard  of  such  a  thing.  Of  all  the  vast  herds  of 
cattle  which  roamed  their  uplands,  not  one  had  ever  been 
tamed.  There  was  not  a  beast  of  burden  in  all  Mexico, 
neither  had  the  people  any  idea  that  the  milk  of  cows 
and  of  goats  was  good  for  human  food. 

The  horse  was  unknown  by  the  Mexicans  until  they 
saw  those  brought  from  Cuba  by  Cortez  for  the  use  of 
his  cavalry.  For  a  long  time  the  Indians  looked  upon 

92 


CIVILIZATION  OF  MEXICO.  93 

horse  and  man  as  one  animal,  and  supposed  them  to  be 
supernatural  beings.  At  one  time,  in  an  encounter  with 
these  people,  a  Cuban  horse  was  left  wounded  on  the 
field.  The  villagers  near  by,  finding  him  in  this  con- 
dition, were  full  of  sympathy  for  the  poor  beast.  They 
brought  him  their  finest  flowers  and  their  fatted  poultry 
to  tempt  his  appetite,  but  all  in  vain.  He  was  only  a 
horse,  and  he  starved  to  death  on  fare  which  would  have 
satisfied  some  of  the  best-worshiped  idols  in  all  Mexico. 
Some  months  afterward,  when  the  Spaniards  came  that 
way  again,  they  found  the  skeleton  neatly  polished  and 
set  up  in  the  village  temple  as  a  new  god.  The  spirited 
mustangs  for  which  the  country  is  now  so  famous  all  date 
from  the  conquest.  Before  that  time  important  news  was 
brought  to  the  capital  by  fleet-footed  runnel's.  By  means 
of  relays  at  short  intervals  these  men  could  bring  de- 
spatches from  the  coast,  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  dis- 
tant, in  twenty-four  hours ;  this  seems  almost  incredible 
when  we  remember  the  lofty  mountains  to  be  crossed  on 
the  way.  The  Aztecs  boasted  that  fish  which  only  the 
day  before  had  been  swimming  in  the  Gulf  were  often 
brought  to  Montezuma's  table. 

An  Indian  road  in  those  days  had  but  one  virtue :  it 
was  as  nearly  straight  as  it  could  be  made,  never  turn- 
ing to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left  for  rugged  mountain 
or  for  precipitous  ravine.  A  chasm  was  sometimes  filled 
up  with  stones  or  bridged  with  a  log,  but  otherwise  there 
was  only  a  footpath  wide  enough  for  one  man.  Ordinary 
travelers  kept  up  a  steady  trot  all  day,  even  when  carry- 
ing burdens — a  habit  still  common  among  the  Mexican 
Indians.  Many  footpaths  used  in  these  days  were  trav- 
eled by  Montezuma's  carriers,  and  some  are  now  worn  in 
deep  ruts  by  the  feet  of  many  generations. 


94  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

As  it  was  considered  beneath  the  dignity  of  the  great 
chiefs  to  walk,  they  were  carried  in  litters  on  the  shoul- 
ders of  porters.  When  they  alighted,  they  were  supported 
under  each  arm,  and  were  led  about  like  children  when 
first  attempting  to  walk.  The  tribe  of  Zapotecs,  in  the 
South,  had  a  high  priest  who  never  walked  at  all,  his  feet 
being  too  sacred  to  touch  the  ground.  The  people  bowed 
with  their  faces  to  the  earth  when  he  passed,  and  no  one 
of  the  vulgar  crowd  ever  saw  him  except  in  his  litter. 

The  immense  stones  used  in  building  temples  in  Mex- 
ico were  hewn  in  some  distant  quarry  and  dragged  by 
long  files  of  men,  with  ropes,  over  wooden  rollers,  to 
their  destination.  They  were  hoisted  to  their  places  in 
lofty  walls  by  some  such  simple  but  effective  contrivances 
as  were  in  use  when  the  oldest  cities  of  the  world  were 
built, 

Men  were  also  employed  as  carriers  of  merchandise  in 
the  trading  expeditions  from  tribe  to  tribe.  Companies 
of  merchants  were  fitted  out  by  the  tribe  not  only  with 
goods  for  sale  or  for  exchange,  but  regularly  prepared  for 
battle  in  case  of  attack.  Their  journey  was  always  a 
dangerous  one.  As  they  felt  their  way  cautiously  from 
one  tribe  to  another  they  always  had  to  cross  the  yaotalli, 
or  debatable  ground,  or  no  man's  land,  by  which  each 
territory  was  surrounded.  An  experienced  and  honor- 
able chief  always  led  the  party,  which,  when  the  por- 
ters were  included,  often  formed  a  small  army.  Many 
a  battle  was  occasioned  by  the  visit  of  such  an  armed 
force,  some  of  whom  might  always  be  suspected  as  spies. 
The  return  of  such  an  expedition  was  an  occasion  for 
great  public  rejoicing,  especially  if  it  had  come  back  suc- 
cessful. It  was  met  by  gay  processions,  and  came  march- 
ing home  with  flying  colors,  under  arches  of  flowers 


CIVILIZATION  OF  MEXICO. 


95 


aiid  greenery  and  pelted  with  bouquets.  The  traders 
went  first  to  the  central  temple  to  lay  an  offering  of 
their  best  before  the  idol.  From  thence  they  went  to 
the  great  teepan,  or  council-house,  to  meet  the  chiefs  who 


TRADERS  ON   THE  CANAL   (MODERN). 

had  sent  them  out,  and  feast  with  them  as  honored  guests 
and  in  token  of  fraternity.  After  these  ceremonies  they 
went  each  man  to  his  own  dwelling. 

A  Mexican  home  was  unlike  any  known  in  Christian 
lands.  In  comparison  with  the  clan  to  which  a  man  be- 
longed, the  wife  and  the  children  held  a  low  place.  The 


96  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

whole  community  had  a  claim  upon  him  iu  his  day  of 
triumph  and  home-coming.  The  council  of  his  kindred 
had  named  him  at  birth,  educated  him,  trained  him  for 
war,  chosen  him  a  wife  and  married  him  to  her,  and  they 
would  bury  him  when  he  died ;  and  it  was  easy  to  see  that 
duty  to  them  came  before  all  other  duties.  The  habit  of 
giving  descriptive  titles  was  shown  in  the  name  applied 
to  the  merchant.  He  was  called  "  the  man  who  exchanges 
one  thing  for  another,"  or  "  the  man  who  gets  more  than 
he  gives." 

Most  of  the  commerce  of  the  country  was  carried  on 
in  the  way  of  barter.  The  artisan  brought  his  own  wares 
to  the  town  market-place  and  exchanged  them  for  what- 
ever he  wanted  of  his  neighbor's  goods  of  equal  value. 
The  money  was  cacao-beans,  put  up  in  small  bags  or 
lots  of  eight  thousand.  Expensive  articles  were  paid 
for  in  grains  of  gold,  which  was  passed  from  hand  to 
hand  in  quills.  Sometimes  pieces  of  cotton  cloth  were 
used,  or  bits  of  copper  instead  of  coin. 

The  market-place  was  a  great  open  square  surrounded 
by  wide  corridors,  where  venders  sat  with  their  goods 
protected  from  the  weather.  Cortez  thus  describes  the 
market-place  in  the  City  of  Mexico  as  he  saw  it  in 
1519: 

"This  city  has  many  public  squares,  in  which  are  sit- 
uated the  markets  and  other  places  for  buying  and  selling. 
There  is  one  square,  twice  as  large  as  that  of  the  city  of 
Salamanca,  surrounded  by  porticoes,  where  are  daily  as- 
sembled more  than  sixty  thousand  souls  engaged  in  buy- 
ing and  selling,  and  where  are  found  all  kinds  of  mer- 
chandise that  the  world  affords,  embracing  the  necessaries 
of  life — as,  for  instance,  articles  of  food  as  well  as  jewels 
of  gold  and  silver,  lead,  brass,  copper,  tin,  precious  stones, 


CIVILIZATION  OF  MEXICO. 


97 


bones,  shells,  snails  and  feathers.  There  are  also  exposed 
for  sale  wrought  and  unwrought  stone,  bricks  burnt  and 
unburnt,  timber  hewn 
and  unhewn  of  various 
sorts. 

"  There  is  a  street  for 
game,  where  every  va- 
riety of  birds  found  in 
the  country  are  sold,  as 
fowls,  partridges,  quails, 
wild  ducks,  flycatchers, 
widgeons,  turtle-doves,  411 
pigeons,  reed-birds,  par- 
rots,  sparrows,  eagles, 
hawks,  owls  and  kes- 
trels; they  sell,  likewise, 
the  skins  of  some  birds 
of  prey,  with  their  feath- 
ers, head, beak  and 
claws.  There  are  also 
sold  rabbits,  hares,  deer 
and  little  dogs,  which 
are  raised  for  eating. 

"  There  is  also  an 
herb  street,  where  may 
be  obtained  all  sorts 
of  roots  and  medicinal 
herbs  that  the  country 
affords.  There  are 
apothecaries'  shops 
where  prepared  medi- 
cines, liquids,  ointments 
and  plasters  are  sold; 
7 


THE  SPLENDID  TROGON  OF  MEXICO. 


98  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

barbers'  shops,  where  they  wash  and  shave  the  head ;  and 
restaurateurs,  that  furnish  food  and  drink  at  a  certain 
price.  There  is  also  a  class  of  men  like  those  called  in 
Castile  porters,  for  carrying  burdens.  Wood  and  coals 
are  seen  in  abundance,  and  braziers  of  earthenware  for 
burning  coals ;  mats  of  various  kinds  for  beds,  others  of 
a  lighter  sort  for  seats,  and  for  halls  and  bedrooms. 

"There  are  all  kinds  of  green  vegetables,  especially 
onions,  leeks,  garlic,  watercresses,  nasturtium,  borage, 
sorel,  artichokes  and  golden  thistle;  fruits,  also,  of 
numerous  descriptions,  amongst  which  are  cherries  and 
plums  similar  to  those  in  Spain  ;  honey  and  wax  from 
bees  and  from  the  stalks  of  maize,  which  are  as  sweet  as 
the  sugar-cane.  Honey  is  also  extracted  from  the  plant 
called  maguey  which  is  superior  to  sweet  or  new  wine ; 
from  the  same  plant  they  extract  sugar  and  wine,  which 
they  also  sell.  Different  kinds  of  cotton  thread,  of  all 
colors,  in  skeins,  are  exposed  for  sale  in  one  quarter  of 
the  market,  which  has  the  appearance  of  the  silk-market 
at  Granada,  although  the  former  is  supplied  more  abun- 
dantly. Painters'  colors  as  numerous  as  can  be  found  in 
Spain,  and  as  fine  shades;  deerskins,  dressed  and  un- 
dressed, dyed  different  colors ;  earthenware  of  a  large 
size  and  excellent  quality;  large  and  small  jars,  jugs,  pots, 
bricks  and  an  endless  variety  of  vessels,  all  made  of  fine 
clay,  and  all,  or  most  of  them,  glazed  and  painted ;  maize, 
or  Indian  corn,  in  the  grain  and  in  the  form  of  bread — 
preferred  in  the  grain  for  its  flavor  to  that  of  the  other 
islands  and  terra  firma ;  pates  of  birds  and  fish ;  great 
quantities  of  fish,  fresh,  salt,  cooked  and  uncooked  ;  the 
eggs  of  hens,  geese,  and  of  all  the  other  birds  I  have  men- 
tioned, in  great  abundance,  and  cakes  made  of  eggs.  Fi- 
nally, everything  that  can  be  found  throughout  the  whole 


CIVILIZATION  OF  MEXICO.  99 

country  is  sold  in  the  markets,  comprising  articles  so 
numerous  that  to  avoid  prolixity,  and  because  their 
names  are  not  retained  in  my  memory  or  are  unknown 
to  me,  I  shall  not  attempt  to  enumerate  them.  Each 
kind  of  merchandise  is  sold  in  a  particular  street  or 
quarter,  assigned  to  it  exclusively,  and  thus  the  best 
order  is  preserved. 

"They  sell  everything  by  number  or  measure — at 
least,  so  far,  we  have  not  observed  them  to  sell  anything 
by  weight.  There  is  a  building  in  the  great  square  that 
is  used  as  an  audience-house,  where  ten  or  twelve  per- 
sons, who  are  magistrates,  sit  and  decide  all  controversies 
that  arise  in  the  market  and  order  delinquents  to  be  pun- 
ished. In  the  same  square  there  are  other  persons,  who 
go  constantly  about  among  the  people,  observing  what  is 
sold  and  the  measures  used  in  selling,  and  they  have  been 
seen  to  break  measures  that  were  not  true." 

The  Mexicans  appear  to  have  been  a  very  cleanly  peo- 
ple. Abundant  •  provision  was  made  in  the  cities  for 
bathing.  Great  basins  cut  in  stone,  with  steps  leading 
down  to  the  water,  are  still  found.  In  many  places 
there  were  underground  reservoirs  for  rain-water. 

Fountains  and  waterfalls  were  included  in  their  land- 
scape-gardening— an  art  that  seems  to  have  reached  a 
perfection  which  European  gardeners  of  that  age  could 
not  exceed.  Cortez  describes  "a  garden  near  Mex- 
ico which  was  the  largest,  most  beautiful  and  refreshing 
that  I  ever  beheld.  It  is  two  leagues  in  circuit,  and 
through  the  middle  of  it  flows  a  fine  stream  of  water. 
At  intervals  of  about  two  bow-shots  are  houses,  with 
beds  of  flowers,  together  with  a  profusion  of  herbs  and 
odoriferous  plants."  The  botanical  gardens  contained 
specimens  of  every  plant  to  be  found  in  that  end  of  the 


100  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

continent.  The  floating  gardens  of  Mexico,  so  often 
described,  were  light  rafts  of  woven  reeds  on  which  turf 
was  heaped.  Through  the  matted  vegetable  growth  thus 
produced  willow  stakes  were  driven,  fastening  all  togeth- 
er, and  in  time  the  roots  of  plants  reached  down  through 
the  soil  into  the  shallow  water  of  the  lake.  Such  gar- 
dens, linked  together  on  the  borders  of  the  city,  extend- 
ed its  boundaries  far  beyond  its  original  limits.  The 
terraced  roofs  of  the  houses  were  also  airy  gardens 
abloom  with  flowering  plants,  and  even  with  small 
shrubbery.  The  whole  city  seemed  devoted  to  floricul- 
ture. Out  of  this  wilderness  of  beauty  arose  hundreds 
of  towers,  with  many  open  squares  surrounded  with 
well-paved  corridors  and  handsome  public  buildings. 

As  every  male  among  the  Aztecs  was  born  a  warrior, 
and  as  the  army  was  almost  constantly  in  the  field,  the 
house-building  of  this  nation  of  banditti  was  mostly 
done  by  levies  on  subjugated  tribes.  They  put  up  houses 
without  a  nail  or  a  hammer.  Hungry  Fox,  chief  of  the 
Tezcucans,  employed  a  force  of  two  hundred  thousand 
men  in  building  and  furnishing  a  government  house. 
The  same  great  chief  had  in  the  centre  of  a  magnificent 
park  a  country-house  which,  judging  from  its  ruins 
still  remaining,  must  well  have  compared  with  some  of 
the  finest  royal  residences  in  Europe.  Enough  can  still 
be  found  to  prove  that  art  has  sadly  degenerated  in  Mex- 
ico since  Aztec  rule  declined.  With  the  despotic  power 
of  the  tribal  council,  the  greatest  tyranny  of  custom  pre- 
vailed throughout  Mexico.  Every  act  of  civil  and  of 
common  life  was  regulated  for  the  people  so  rigorously 
that  "  the  course  of  improvement,"  says  one  writer, 
"was  chained  as  completely  as  in  China  or  Hindo- 
stan." 


CIVILIZATION  OF  MEXICO.  101 

The  manners  of  the  people  showed  great  attention  to 
all  the  proprieties  of  life.  The  Aztecs  always  saluted  by 
touching  the  hand  to  the  ground  and  then  raising  it  to 
the  head.  "When  they  appeared  in  the  presence  of  the 
great  chiefs,  it  was  common  to  wear  a  coarse  mantle  over 
their  rich  -garments,  in  token  of  respect  to  superiors  in 
rank.  The  dignity  and  the  decorum  of  an  Indian  coun- 
cil are  proverbial  among  us,  and  the  Mexican  teepan  was 
a  model  of  tedious  etiquette.  Cortez  says,  "  No  sultan 
or  infidel  lord  now  known  had  so  much  ceremonial  in 
their  courts  as  did  Montezuma."  A  censer  with  sweet 
incense  thrown  on  the  burning  coals  was  swung  before 
the  honored  guest  by  an  Aztec  host,  that  the  very  air 
might  breathe  its  welcome  to  him.  Hands  were  care- 
fully washed  and  dried  before  and  after  meals,  and  the 
whole  person  was  bathed  every  day.  There  were  no 
tables  or  knives  or  forks,  but  finger-bowls  and  cotton 
napkins  were  commonly  used,  and  dainty  pottery.  It 
is  said  that  in  the  higher  circles  meats  were  kept 
hot  on  chafing-dishes,  the  guests  being  seated  on  clean 
rush  mats  placed  on  the  floor;  chocolate  was  served  in 
cups  of  gold,  silver  or  tortoise-shell,  and  an  after-dinner 
pipe  was  as  common  there  as  here.  The  Aztecs  became 
skillful  cooks  as  the  tribe  increased  in  wealth,  though 
the  poor  could  never  forget  the  day  when,  hunted  into 
the  swamps,  their  ancestors  were  often  obliged  to  fall 
back  on  the  glutinous  scum  of  the  lake  as  a  substitute 
for  more  palatable  food. 

In  dress  as  in  architecture  these  people  had  advanced 
far  beyond  the  more  northern  Indians.  The  costume  of 
the  citizen  was  a  large  square  mantle  (tilmantli),  worn 
throughout  Mexico ;  two  ends  of  this  were  brought  to- 
gether and  knotted  tinder  the  chin.  This  flowing  dra- 


102  ABOUT  MEXICO, 

pery  was  often  fringed  or  tasseled  and  sprinkled  with 
gems  according  to  the  taste  and  wealth  of  the  wearer. 
The  cold's  were  rich  and  varied,  generally  dyed  before 
the  cloth  was  woven,  and  often  skillfully  embroidered  in 
fanciful  designs  on  a  plain  ground.  Additional  mantles 
of  feather-work  and  fur  were  common,  and  quilted  cot- 
ton tunics.  With  sash,  long  and  ample,  tied  about  the 
loins,  collars,  bracelets  and  anklets  of  gold-embroidered 
leather  richly  adorned  with  precious  stones,  and  gaudy 
pendants  from  ears,  under-lips,  anil  sometimes  the  nos- 
trils, we  have  a  picture  of  the  Indian  brave  of  Mexico 
which  would  quite  rouse  the  envy  of  his  less-cultivated 
red  brother  of  our  own  Western  frontier.  The  chiefs, 
as  we  have  seen  elsewhere,  had  other  finery,  belonging 
to  them  exclusively.  The  festival  array  of  an  Aztec 
was  sometimes  a  beast  mask  or  in  skins  flayed  from 
human  victims,  in  which  young  men  dressed  themselves 
to  dance.  Priests  wore  the  robe  of  the  god  whose  day 
they  celebrated ;  the  warrior,  the  colors  of  his  clan.  The 
women  wore  several  skirts  of  different  lengths,  one  over 
the  other,  so  that  the  bottom  of  each  skirt  might  be  seen, 
while  over  all  these  were  loose  flowing  tunics.  These  gar- 
ments were  often  richly  tinted  and  embroidered  in  taste- 
ful figures.  Stripes  and  plaids  were  common.  A  tine 
soft  cloth  woven  of  rabbits'  hair  and  dyed  in  various 
colors  was  also  used.  Decorations  of  feathers,  gems, 
pearls,  little  figures  and  trinkets  of  gold  added  great 
beauty  to  these  costumes.  The  Aztec  women  walked 
the  streets  unveiled,  though  those  of  some  of  the  other 
tribes  wore  a  covering  on  the  head.  Their  eyes  were 
dark  and  their  hair  was  long,  black  and  thick,  flow- 
ing about  the  shoulders.  Their  faces  had  the  passive, 
even  sad,  look  which  marks  their  race. 


CIVILIZATION  OF  MEXICO.  103 

No  product  of  Mexican  patience  and  skill  was  more 
justly  admired  than  were  the  exquisite  feather-mosaics. 
The  artist  sometimes  spent  a  whole  day  selecting  one  tiny 
feather  and  gumming  it  in  its  place  on  a  warrior's  cloak 
or  shield.  The  rainbow  sheen  of  the  breast  and  the  throat 
of  the  humming-bird  was  most  eagerly  sought  for  this 
work  ;  it  was  almost  as  costly  as  though  the  glittering 
patterns  were  wrought  in  the  gems  it  so  perfectly  imi- 
tated. The  little  bird  whose  plumage  had  been  stolen 
was  itself  reproduced  in  the  design,  or  fishes  with  gleam- 
ing scales  or  flowers  of  radiant  colors  shone  out  as  though 
they  were  real,  and  not  mere  copies  from  nature.  Birds, 
fishes  and  all  other  known  animals  were  also  imitated 
exactly  in  gold  and  silver,  each  hair  and  scale  being 
most  carefully  wrought  in  the  metal.  This  art,  they 
claimed,  was  taught  by  Feathered  Serpent,  their  hero- 
god.  The  same  forms  were  cut  in  gems  and  worn  as 
jewelry.  One  emerald  thus  carved  was  crushed  with 
holy  horror  by  a  Spanish  priest  when  he  found  that  it 
had  been  worshiped  as  a  god. 

When  the  life  of  the  Aztec  reached  its  close  and  prep- 
aration was  made  for  the  funeral  rites,  the  darkness  with 
regard  to  the  coming  state  in  which  the  tribe  walked  be- 
came manifest.  After  the  survivors  had  mourned  all  day 
in  silence  over  their  dead,  seeking  by  tender  entreaty  and 
offers  of  food  to  win  back  the  departed  spirit,  they  filled 
the  night  with  despairing  shrieks  and  moans.  They  then 
made  preparations  for  cremation.  All  the  possessions  of 
the  dead  man  were  brought  together  and  burned  with  him. 
When  a  head-chief  died,  his  body  lay  in  state  for  a  cer- 
tain time  dressed  in  the  garb  of  his  patron  god.  But  a 
long  and  dreary  journey  lay  between  him  and  those  re- 
gions of  bliss  promised  to  the  great  warriors  of  the  tribe. 


104  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

Wood  aud  water  were  put  beside  him ;  a  costly  mask 
covered  his  face,  and  a  green  stone  cut  in  the  shape  of  a 
heart  was  placed  between  the  cold,  mute  lips.  A  little 
dog  was  provided,  to  guide  his  master  through  the  perils 
of  the  way,  aud  plenty  of  paper  passes  were  furnished  for 
the  time  of  need.  The  priests  spoke  of  a  wonderful  place 
where  mountains  strike  together,  the  road  being  guarded 
by  "  the  great  snake  and  great  alligator,  the  eight  deserts 
and  eight  hills."  In  earlier  days  a  crowd  of  wives  and 
servants  stood  by.  The  priests  exhorted  them  to  be 
faithful  in  the  next  world  to  their  departed  master, 
after  which  they  were  killed,  and  burned  also  with 
his  ashes.  At  the  funeral  of  Nezhualpilli,  the  son  of 
Hungry  Fox  (A.  D.  1515),  just  before  the  Spaniards 
came,  it  is  said  that  two  hundred  male  and  one  hundred 
female  attendants  thus  suffered.  With  the  bodies  wore 
burned,  in  a  vast  funeral  pyre,  quantities  of  rich  stuffs, 
jewels,  weapons,  ornaments  and  costly  incense — every- 
thing, in  fact,  needed  to  keep  up  the  dead  man's  state  in 
the  next  life.  So  far  as  possible,  the  other  classes  aped 
this  horrible  fashion.  Some  made  wooden  statues  of 
their  friends,  with  hollow  places  in  the  necks,  in  which 
their  ashes  were  put.  These  were  kept  as  family  idols. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

AMONG  THE  BOOKS. 

uncivilized  man  pictures  the  event  he  wishes  to 
J-  record.  If  he  is  describing  a  battle,  he  draws 
something  which  suggests  war — his  arrows,  his  toma- 
hawk or  the  scalp  of  his  foe.  Water  is  often  expressed 
by  a  waved  line  ;  a  month,  by  the  figure  of  the  moon ;  a 
day,  by  that  of  the  sun.  In  such  rude  pictures  origi- 
nated the  old  Hebrew  alphabet  in  which  Moses  wrote,  as 
is  shown  by  the  names  of  the  letters.  Thus,  aleph  means 
"an  ox;"  beth,  "a  house;"  gimel,  "a  camel;"  and  daleth, 
"  a  door."  Through  ages  of  use  the  lines  of  these  pict- 
ures were  changed  and  simplified,  until  they  became 
merely  letters  in  which  the  original  design  could  scarcely 
be  traced. 

An  advance  in  civilization  is  shown  by  an  effort  to  ex- 
press abstract  ideas  by  signs.  Among  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians an  ostrich-feather  was  chosen  to  represent  the  idea 
of  truth.  They  went  still  farther,  and  ased  signs  to  rep- 
resent sounds  as  our  letters  do.  Thus  the  figure  of  a 
hawk  meant  the  sound  a,  etc.  In  the  next  step  in  writ- 
ten language  both  pictures  and  symbols  are  dropped,  and 
signs  are  used  only  to  represent  the  sounds  of  spoken  lan- 
guage— characters  which  can  be  combined  to  make  sylla- 
bles and  words.  This  is  phonetic  writing.  If  a  man  can 
write  one  word  in  this  way,  he  can  go  on  and  write  a 
hundred  words,  or  five  hundred  if  he  has  learned  to  use 

105 


106  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

five  hundred  words  iu  conversation.  Such  a  person  is 
no  longer  a  savage :  he  has  become  a  partially-civilized 
man. 

Every  letter  used  in  the  composition  of  this  book  has 
such  a  history  of  civilization  as  this.  Tracing  it  to  its 
fountain-head,  we  find  ourselves  on  the  banks  of  the 
Nile,  among  the  pyramids  of  old  Egypt,  where  men 
made  their  first  rude  attempts  to  write  language.  "  In 
every  letter  we  trace,"  says  Max  M  tiller,  "lies  embedded 
the  mummy  of  an  ancient  Egyptian  hieroglyph,"  or 
symbol.  The  Phoenicians,  who  were  the  travelers  and 
the  wide-awake  people  of  their  day,  visited  Egypt  and 
there  learned  the  use  of  letters.  What  the  Pho3nieians 
knew,  they  taught  to  the  Greeks,  who  in  their  turn  be- 
came the  teachers  of  all  Europe.  They  began  to  write 
language  about  B.  c.  600.  It  was  from  these  people  that 
the  Romans — whose  alphabet  we  use — got  their  first  idea 
of  a  written  language.  The  very  name  they  gave  their 
letters  tells  the  story.  It  is  alpha  beta,  the  first  two  let- 
ters of  the  series  used  by  the  Greeks.  The  written  lan- 
guages of  the  New  World  have  no  part  in  this  history  of 
our  alphabet,  as  the  characters  used  by  the  American 
tribes  are  of  their  own  invention.  It  is  very  doubt- 
ful whether  until  this  century  any  of  them  ever  got 
much  beyond  picture-writing. 

About  the  year  1821,  Se-quoy-ah,  a  Cherokee  Indian, 
heard  a  white  man  who  was  visiting  his  tribe  read  a  let- 
ter. Those  who  have  all  their  lives  been  accustomed  to 
seeing  people  read  have  no  idea  of  the  effect  produced  on 
this  untutored  child  of  the  forest  when  he  discovered  that 
the  curious  little  black  marks  on  paper  had  conveyed 
ideas  to  the  mind  of  his  visitor,  and  that  there  were  other 
white  men  who  would  find  the  same  meaning  in  them. 


AMONG  THE  BOOKS.  107 

He  began  to  think  and  to  ask  questions  about  this  strange 
fact,  and  slowly  he  grasped  the  idea  of  making  characters 
which  would  represent  the  different  sounds  of  the  human 
voice.  After  mouths  of  study  he  found  that  eighty-five 
distinct  sounds,  or  syllables,  were  used  in  Cherokee  con- 
versation, and  that  all  the  words  with  which  he  was 
familiar  were  combinations  of  these.  He  contrived 
eighty-five  signs,  or  characters,  which  represented  these 
sounds.  This  done,  it  was  easy  to  put  them  together  to 
make  words ;  and  the  Cherokees  had  a  written  language 
so  simple  that  under  the  guidance  of  Se-quoy-ah  these 
Indians  have  gone  beyond  their  white  brethren,  and  in 
their  system  of  phonetics  have  got  rid  of  a  world  of 
rubbish,  in  the  shape  of  useless  or  silent  letters,  with 
which  our  written  words  are  encumbered. 

Some  have  claimed  that  the  Mayas  of  Yucatan — a 
people  supposed  to  have  descended  from  the  builders  of 
the  magnificent  cities  now  in  ruins  there — once  had  such 
a  phonetic  alphabet,  but  this  cannot  be  proved  until  a 
key  has  been  found  to  the  records  carved  on  their  mon- 
uments. So  far,  these  are  still  an  enigma  to  the  curious 
student.  The  Toltecs,  Tezcucans,  Aztecs,  and  other 
Kahua  tribes,  had  a  few  symbols  representing  ideas,  but 
most  of  the  numberless  manuscripts  found  at  the  time  of 
the  conquest  were  in  picture-writing.  It  is  not  proved 
that  they  had  the  art  of  writing  sounds,  although  they 
seemed  to  be  rapidly  working  toward  it. 

The  Aztecs  were  very  skillful  in  representing  the 
forms  of  birds,  animals  and  fishes  in  gold  and  silver; 
but  the  same  objects,  when  used  in  picture-writing,  were 
strangely  distorted.  They  made  no  difference  in  size 
between  men,  women  and  children,  but  indicated  differ- 
ence of  age  by  dots  near  the  head  of  the  figure  repre- 


108  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

sented.  Their  human  beings  were  always  big-headed, 
long-footed,  with  faces  in  profile,  immense  noses  and  a 
front  view  of  one  staring  eye.  The  work  was  otherwise 
well  done,  with  clear  strokes  and  fadeless  coloring.  The 
priests  were  the  great  picture-writers  and  historians  of 
the  tribe.  Their  law-records  were  said  to  have  been  so 
accurate  that  the  Spanish  government  always  took  them 
in  evidence  when  Indian  testimony  was  required.  There 
were  several  different  styles  of  penmanship,  no  one  of 
which  is  now  understood  by  any  living  person.  In  less 
than  one  hundred  years  after  the  conquest  there  were  but 
two  persons  who  could  read  the  manuscripts  which  es- 
caped the  general  wreck.  Both  of  these  men  were  very 
old,  and  neither  was  a  skilled  interpreter. 

The  Romish  priests  became  very  much  interested  in 
Mexican  picture-writing.  When  it  was  decided  that  the 
Indians  could  be  trusted  with  their  old  art,  the  monks 
began  to  encourage  them  in  it,  and  even  to  study  it 
themselves  in  order  to  communicate  the  truths  of  the 
gospel  to  these  poor  people  in  the  way  most  familiar  to 
them.  In  some  cases  they  were  successful.  Many  a 
native  who  had  gone  faithfully  through  his  pray  ere  in 
an  unknown  tongue  now  began  for  the  first  time  to  un- 
derstand them.  The  Aztecs  were  a  deeply  religious  peo- 
ple— as,  indeed,  were  all  the  Mexican  tribes — and  when 
they  came  to  unburden  their  hearts  to  the  priests  in  the 
confessional,  they  could  in  no  way  express  themselves  so 
well  as  by  their  old  pictures.  Many  learned  the  art  in 
order  to  relate  their  religious  experience,  and  thousands 
of  new  manuscripts  were  written,  some  of  which  remain 
to  perplex  the  antiquarian.  A  monk  who  understood 
picture-writing  says  he  was  literally  overwhelmed  by 
these  Indian  confessions  on  long  strips  of  muslin. 


AMOSQ   THE  BOOKS.  109 

Even  those  Datives  who  had  been  taught  the  use  of  the 
Roman  alphabet  would  return  to  their  old  art  whenever 
they  could. 

Back  of  these  monkish  documents  are  writings  which 
no  one  can  understand.  Not  long  after  the  conquest 
one  of  these  was  sent  to  Charles  V.  by  Mendoza,  the 
first  viceroy  of  New  Spain.  It  is  called  the  Mendoza 
Codex,  and  is  a  copy  of  some  old  manuscript,  since  it  is 
done  on  European  paper.  The  Spanish  vessel  by  which 
this  book  was  sent  was  captured  in  mid-ocean  by  the 
French  and  taken  to  Paris  with  other  booty.  There 
the  chaplain  of  the  English  ambassador  saw  it,  and 
bought  it.  It  was  taken  by  him  to  England  and  en- 
graved as  one  of  the  illustrations  of  Purchases  Pilgrim- 
age. The  original  picture-book  was  lost  for  a  hundred 
years,  but  finally  was  found  and  put  in  the  Bodleian 
Library,  where  it  now  is.  Spanish  and  English  inter- 
pretations of  the  Mendoza  Codex  have  been  published, 
but  are  not  to  be  relied  on. 

An  entirely  different  style  of  picture-writing  is  seen  in 
what  is  called  the  Dresden  Codex.  This  manuscript  was 
first  heard  of  in  1739;  it  is  an  original,  painted  in  fine, 
delicate  characters  on  agave-pajjer.  There  is  no  clue  to 
the  origin  or  the  interpretation  of  this  beautiful  manu- 
script, though  some  of  the  figures  and  the  characters  are 
like  those  carved  on  the  stones  of  Palenque,  and  may 
possibly  illustrate  manners  and  customs  of  Southern 
Mexico  in  vogue  several  hundred  years  ago. 

About  the  time  it  was  deemed  necessary  to  invent  an 
Indian  Virgin  Mary  for  these  poor  people,  Boturini, 
one  of  their  warmest  friends,  devoted  himself  to  a  long 
and  patient  search  among  them  for  relics  and  manu- 
scripts, hoping  to  find  something  which  would  help  the 


110  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

monks  in  this  pious  effort.  He  lived  in  their  cabins,  be- 
came familiar  with  the  various  dialects  and  gained  the 
confidence  of  the  people,  and  thus  obtained  a  knowledge 
of  their  history  and  traditions  better  than  that  of  any 
other  European.  After  making  a  great  collection  of 
maps  and  manuscripts,  he  started  with  his  treasure  for 
Spain.  But  the  authorities  took  alarm  at  these  signs  of 
sympathy  with  the  Indians.  Boturini  was  arrested  be- 
fore he  could  get  out  of  Mexico;  all  his  papers  were* 
taken  from  him  and  stored  in  a  damp  room  in  the  vice- 
roy's palace.  Some  of  them  were  stolen,  some  became 
so  mouldy  that  they  fell  to  pieces ;  and  in  time  the  col- 
lection which  had  cost  so  much  time  and  labor  was  en- 
tirely lost. 

Sahagan,  a  Franciscan  monk,  wrote  a  long  history  of 
the  people  among  whom  he  labored,  but  it  was  deemed  a 
dangerous  enterprise  tending  to  perpetuate  the  heathen- 
ism which  was  still  wrought  into  the  warp  and  woof  of 
Mexican  Christianity.  Sahagan  dared  not  publish  his 
book,  and  for  nearly  three  hundred  years  it  was  as  much 
lost  to  the  public  as  was  one  of  the  picture-writings  of 
which  he  spoke. 

The  world  lost  the  best  history  of  Mexico  ever  writ- 
ten when  the  bigot  Zurramaga  emptied  the  great  library 
of  Tezcuco  into  the  town  market-place  and  burned  it 
there ;  the  smoke  he  raised  seemed  ever  after  to  linger 
cloudlike  over  the  vanquished  race.  What  remained 
of  their  early  records  was  hidden  away,  like  their  lost 
cities,  until  their  very  memory  perished,  and  none  were 
left  to  read  the  mouldy  fragments  which  here  and  there 
have  come  to  light. 

The  Aztec  manuscripts  were  folded  in  a  curious  zigzag 
manner,  something  like  a  fan,  and  stiffened  at  each  end 


AMONG   THE  BOOKS.  Ill 

by  two  pieces  of  light  wood.  For  paper,  agave-leaves 
were  used,  and  sometimes  a  piece  of  white  cotton  cloth 
or  a  neatly-dressed  deerskin.  Strips  of  these,  one  or 
two  feet  broad  and  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  long, 
were  neatly  joined  together.  The  folds  in  these  were 
the  pages,  and  the  boards  at  each  end  were  the  cover, 
of  the  book. 

The  Aztec  language  was  copious  and  polished,  and 
the  orators  of  the  tribe  were  very  eloquent  in  the  use 
of  it.  The  words  were  often  long,  some  of  them  having 
fifteen  syllables.  Besides  this  language,  there  were  many 
others  spoken ;  some  have  counted  thirty-five  dialects  at 
the  time  of  the  conquest.  Tradition  says  that  the  poet- 
chieftain  Hungry  Fox  was  the  author  of  sixty  hymns  to 
the  true  God,  only  a  very  few  of  which,  however,  have 
come  down  to  our  time.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  not 
likely  that  any  of  these  compositions  were  written  until 
the  Roman  alphabet  came  into  use  among  his  people,  but 
were  preserved  in  the  memories  of  his  followers. 

In  writing  figures  the  Aztecs  expressed  a  small  num- 
ber by  circles  or  by  units.  A  tiny  flag  represented  the 
number  20 ;  a  feather  was  400 ;  a  sack,  8000 ;  a  flag 
with  two  cross-lines  was  10,  and  the  same  picture  with 
three  dots  beside  it  stood  for  24.  Records  of  the  grain 
and  other  products  which  were  furnished  for  the  use  of 
large  Aztec  communities  are  still  preserved. 

Nothing  so  well  shows  the  high  grade  of  civilization 
to  which  these  Indians  attained  as  their  system  for  the 
measurement  of  time ;  this,  it  is  supposed,  they  inherited 
from  the  Toltecs.  They  had  discovered  the  exact  length 
of  the  solar  or  tropical  year,  and  the  necessity  of  leap- 
years  in  order  to  bring  their  time  up  to  the  seasons. 
They  divided  this  year  of  three  hundred  and  sixty-five 


112  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

days  and  six  hours  into  eighteen  months  of  twenty- 
days  each,  and  these  months  again  into  four  weeks  of 
five  days.  This  left  an  excess  of  five  days  which  did 
not  belong  to  any  month.  During  this  time  it  was  con- 
sidered to  be  worse  than  useless  to  do  any  work,  since  the 
powers  of  evil  would  thwart  their  best  endeavors  un- 
hindered by  the  gods,  who  were  all  off  duty.  No 
prayers  were  offered  to  them,  therefore,  and  those  who 
had  a  heart  to  laugh  when  everything  was  in  such  dire 
confusion  gave  themselves  up  to  amusement.  The  fact 

that 

"Satan  finds  some  mischief  still 
For  idle  hands  to  do  " 

must  often  have  been  emphasized  in  these  times  of  gen- 
eral license,  and  probably  furnished  the  reason  why 
these  days  came  to  be  considered  particularly  unlucky 
days. 

The  leap-year  of  the  Aztecs  came  at  the  close  of  their 
period  of  fifty-two  years,  or  four  cycles  of  thirteen  years 
each,  when  thirteen  days  were  added  to  make  the  time 
right  with  the  seasons.  These  thirteen  days  were  the 
solemn  season  of  year-binding,  described  in  a  previous 
chapter. 


CHAPTER  X. 
CHILD-LIFE  IN  MEXICO. 

r  IFE  from  its  outset  must  have  been  a  serious  busi- 
-L*  ness  with  the  Mexican  boys  and  girls.  They  were 
taught  from  their  cradle  to  endure  hardship,  to  sleep  on 
the  floor  on  a  mat,  to  suffer  hunger  and  thirst,  pain  and 
fatigue,  without  complaint.  Of  home,  in  our  sense  of 
that  word,  they  could  have  known  but  little,  since  edu- 
cation in  all  its  branches  was  almost  entirely  in  the  hands 
of  the  government.  The  fathers  and  the  mothers  of 
Mexico  may  have  had  as  much  natural  love  for  their 
children  as  parents  have  in  our  own  country,  but  parents 
had  much  less  opportunity  to  spoil  their  children  by  the 
over-indulgence  which  is  possible  here.  Both  boys  and 
girls  were  taken  from  home  at  a  very  early  age,  to  be 
brought  up  in  the  public  schools  of  the  tribe. 

Some  of  the  laws  of  Aztec  society  would  not  be  en- 
dured by  the  young  people  of  our  day  and  country.  For 
instance,  respect  to  parents  was  carried  so  far  that  even 
after  marriage  a  young  man  dared  not  speak  in  the  pres- 
ence of  his  father  without  first  obtaining  his  permission. 
The  wife  and  the  children  of  a  merchant  who  was  away 
on  one  of  those  dangerous  trading  expeditions  were  not 
allowed  the  luxury  of  bathing  while  he  was  absent ;  they 
could  not  wear  their  best  clothes  or  live  on  anything  but 
the  plainest  fare  until  he  returned  in  safety.  These  sac- 
rifices were  made  to  win  for  him  the  favor  of  the  gods. 


114  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

» In  case  of  prolonged  absence  and  great  peril  the  mother 
and  the  children  did  penance  by  cutting  themselves  with 
flints.  The  art  of  doing  this  properly  was  one  of  the 
lessons  taught  in  Aztec  public  schools.  The  children 
were  trained  to  believe  that  the  sight  of  blood  pleased 
the  cruel  deities  who  were  supposed  to  preside  over  the 
commerce  of  their  country. 

Scarcely  did  a  child  open  its  eyes  on  this  world  when 
religious  ceremonies  for  its  benefit  began.     An  astrologer 
was  called  in  to  decide  whether  or  not  it  was  born  under  a 
lucky  star.     This  question  was  not  raised,  however,  about 
the  children  born  during  the  last  five  days  of  the  year : 
these  were  always  accounted  as  unlucky,  and  the  little  un- 
fortunate who  then  entered  on  life  was  dubbed  from  the 
outset  "useless  man"  or  "useless  woman,"  as  the  case 
might  be,  and  neither  his  own  good  sense  nor  the  good 
management  of  the  parents  could  save  the  youngster  from 
a  double  share  of  this  world's  troubles.     When  the  little 
one  was  two  or  three  days  old,  it  was  carried  out  of 
doors  by  an  orderly  procession  of  its  friends  and  laid 
on  a  heap  of  freshly-cut  grass.     It  was  then   bathed 
(some  would  call  the  ceremony  "  baptism "),  while  the 
gods  were  invoked  in  its  behalf,  the  petitioners  kneeling 
on  the  ground  with  their  faces  to  the  east.     At  this  time 
a  baby-name  was  given  to  the  infant,  by  which  it  was 
known  in  the  family  circle  for  a  few  months  only ;  then 
a  priest  came  to  give  the  child  its  second  baptism  and  its 
proper  name.     It  was  called  always  after  some  object  in 
nature.     A  little  girl  was  often   named   after  one   of 
the  beautiful   flowers  with  which   the  whole  land  was 
abloom.     Every  name  had  a  meanipg  and  could  easily 
be  written,  since  it  was  not  spelled,  but  pictured.    It  was 
after  this  second  ceremony  that  a  bow  a.nd  arrows  were 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  MEXICO.  115 

laid  on  the  pillow  of  a  baby-boy,  to  signify  that  he  was 
born  to  be  a  warrior.  In  this  same  way  a  tiny  spindle 
and  distaff  were  given  to  a  girl-baby,  to  show  that  her 
business  in  life  was  to  spin,  weave  and  provide  for  a 
family.  A  stone  mortar  and  pestle  were  buried  under 
the  family  grindstone,  where  the  mother  ground  corn  to 
ensure  plenty  of  food  in  store  for  her  daughter,  while 
the  bow  and  arrows  given  to  her  little  brother  were 
in  due  time  buried  in  the  fields  where  it  was  expect- 
ed he  would  some  day  fight.  By  this  ceremony  it 
was  supposed  that  he  would  be  made  successful  as 
a  warrior. 

A  boy  who  lived  to  grow  up  and  make  a  figure  in  the 
world  was  named  three  times.  When  years  had  passed, 
if  he  survived  the  fasts  and  penances  by  which  he  was 
initiated  into  the  ranks  of  the  priests  or  the  warriors,  or 
when,  as  a  common  soldier,  he  found  glory  on  some 
bloody  battlefield,  he  had  a  new  name  given  to  him,  by 
which  he  was  ever  afterward  known.  Any  remarkable 
circumstance  in  a  man's  life  was  apt  to  be  commemorated 
in  this  way.  This  is  a  very  old  custom,  and  is  often  de- 
scribed in  the  Bible.  Thus,  Abram  and  Sarai  were  re- 
named Abraham  and  Sarah  in  their  old  age,  because  God 
at  that  time  covenanted  to  make  them  the  parents  of  a 
great  nation.  When  Jacob  struggled  all  night  by  the 
ford  Jabbok,  God  said,  "Thy  name  shall  no  more  be 
called  Jacob,  but  Israel,  for  as  a  prince  hast  thou  power 
with  God  and  hast  prevailed."  The  name  "Hungry 
Fox  "  was  given  in  this  way  to  the  most  famous  of  all 
the  chiefs  of  Anahuac  as  a  memorial  of  the  years  of  dis- 
tress and  privation  through  which  he  passed  before  he 
reached  his  high  position.  The  Aztec  "  chief-of-men " 
had  a  third  name,  which  well  expressed  his  gloomy, 


116  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

superstitious  character.  It  was  Montezuma,  "  the  sad  or 
severe  man." 

At  a  certain  time  in  the  year  every  child  which  had 
reached  a  proper  age  had  its  ears  bored.  The  same 
month  all  the  boys  and  girls  were  lifted  by  their  ears, 
four  or  five  times,  from  the  ground,  in  order  to  make 
them  grow  straight  and  tall. 

Home-life  was  always  short.  There  was  seldom  any 
big  brother  or  big  sister  at  home  to  tease  or  to  overawe 
the  little  ones,  since  all  over  eight  years  were  in  school, 
and  were  married  as  soon  as  they  left  school.  It  was  not 
necessary  for  any  family  to  have  a  large  dwelling.  A 
pair  of  rooms  opening  into  each  other  and  unconnected 
with  the  rest  of  the  house  was  probably  enough  for  most 
of  them.  Even  the  most  elegant  mansions  found  in 
Southern  Mexico  were  arranged  in  this  way,  and  ac- 
commodated scores  of  families. 

Before  the  State  took  the  children  in  charge  they  were 
taught  to  work.  Some  old  picture-writers  of  that  day 
have  given  a  description  of  the  progressive  steps  in  the 
education  of  children.  Three  small  dots  over  the  head 
of  one  of  their  human  figures  show  that  it  is  intended  to 
represent  a  boy  or  a  girl  three  years  of  age.  There  is  a 
picture  of  half  a  corncake  near  these  dots,  to  show  what 
was  such  a  child's  allowance  for  one  meal.  More  dots 
and  a  whole  corncake  tell  us  that  the  child  has  grown 
older.  As  years  go  on  we  see  the  boys  beginning  to  carry 
burdens.  One  picture  shows  a  boy  of  four  learning  to 
do  easy  little  tasks ;  he  carries  a  willow  basket  to  market 
for  his  father.  A  girl  of  the  same  age  takes  her  first 
lesson  in  spinning.  The  boy  of  six  goes  out  into  the 
field  to  pick  ears  of  corn ;  a  year  later  his  father  teaches 
him  how  to  fish  in  the  lake.  He  paddles  about  in  a  little 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  MEXICO.  117 

canoe  and  learns  how  to  handle  a  bow  and  arrows.  The 
girls,  meanwhile,  are  set  to  grinding  corn  and  cooking 
cakes  for  the  family — among  the  chief  occupations  of  a 
Mexican  woman's  life  to  this  day. 

Since  human  nature  is  the  same  all  the  world  over,  we 
may  be  sure  that  even  among  the  industrious  people  of 
Anahuac  there  were  some  who  were  lazy  and  selfish,  but 
this,  like  most  other  family  matters,  was  regulated  by 
the  government.  A  lad  who  would  not  work  when  he 
was  bidden  was  made  to  stand  over  burning  pepper  until 
he  was  almost  choked  with  the  smoke,  or  he  was  beaten 
with  a  thorny  stick.  A  youngster  who  would  not  speak 
the  truth  had  his  lip  punched  with  a  thorn.  Laziness 
seems  to  have  been  counted  as  an  unpardonable  sin  among 
these  people.  The  children  were  kept  busy  on  principle. 
In  this  respect,  and  in  many  others,  these  Indians  differ 
widely  from  their  red  brethren  who  rove  our  prairies 
and  live  by  the  chase.  Among  the  Nez  Perc6  and  other 
tribes  of  the  North  the  boys  are  taught  to  endure  bodily 
discomfort  with  patience,  but  never  to  work,  tilling  the 
fields,  and  even  felling  lumber  and  building  the  houses, 
being  considered  woman's  work.  Our  Indians  think  it 
unsafe  to  compel  a  boy  to  obey  his  parents,  lest  his  spirit 
be  broken. 

The  public  schools  of  the  Aztecs  were  called  "  houses 
of  the  youth."  These  buildings,  which  were  often  quite 
extensive,  adjoined  the  temple,  and  were  always  under  the 
care  of  the  priests.  They  had  other  expressive  names 
for  them,  such  as  "  the  place  where  I  grow  "  or  "  the 
place  where  I  learn."  The  teacher  was  called  "the 
speaker  of  the  youth,"  or  was  commended  to  his  pupils 
by  the  pleasant  name  of  "  elder  brother."  The  teachers 
of  the  girls'  department  were  sedate  old  maiden-ladies 


118  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

who  had  forsaken  the  world  and  taken  up  religion  as  a 
profession. 

Reading  and  writing  in  Mexico  were  not  the  simple 
studies  which  in  these  times  are  set  before  a  child  of  five 
or  six  years.  The  vast  majority  of  the  people  knew 
nothing  of  these  fine  arts. 

Besides  the  use  of 'the  brush  and  the  pencil  in  picture- 
and  map-drawing,  history  was  committed  to  memory, 
together  with  national  hymns,  war-songs  and  prayers 
used  in  the  temple-service.  The  studious  pupil  was 
taken  out  on  the  temple-roof  at  night  to  study  the 
heavens  with  the  old  astrologers.  They  knew  the 
Pleiades  and  other  constellations,  and  were  able  to 
measure  off  the  years  by  these  starry  timekeepers. 
Some  of  the  little  ones  were  sent  to  the  temple  at  a 
very  tender  age.  It  is  probable  that  on  account  of 
the  frequent  battles  of  that  warlike  tribe  there  were 
many  orphans  under  the  care  of  the  government. 

The  temple  was  also  an  industrial  school.  Every  boy 
and  every  girl  had  work  to  do  to  keep  its  numerous 
buildings  and  courts  in  order.  The  great  stairs  and 
terraces  by  which  the  altar  was  reached  from  the  out- 
side were  soiled  with  the  feet  of  many  long  processions 
going  to  and  coming  from  that  place  of  blood,  or  by 
the  clouds  of  dust  for  which  the  valley  is  still  famous 
during  the  long  dry  season.  The  tesselated  pavements 
of  shrine  and  hall  and  corridor  had  to  be  cleansed 
frequently,  or  they  could  not  have  compared  favorably 
with  the  streets  of  the  city,  which,  we  are  told,  were 
swept  daily  by  a  thousand  men.  The  priests'  quarters 
were  also  in  the  temple,  and,  with  the  vast  army  of 
these  officials  (said  to  have  numbered  five  thousand  in 
all),  there  must  have  been  work  enough  for  all  the  un- 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  MEXICO.  119 

married  girls  and  women  in  the  tribe.  To  the  girls, 
also,  was  given  the  duty  of  bringing  water  from  the 
beautiful  fountain  in  the  temple-court  to  use  in  religious 
service.  They  also  had  care  of  the  flowers  which  grew 
in  the  temple-garden,  and  which  were  always  in  demand 
as  offerings  to  the  idols.  Nor  did  their  duties  close  with 
the  long  bright  days  of  the  tropical  year ;  three  times  in 
the  night  they  rose  to  look  after  the  fire  on  the  roof, 
which  was  never  suffered  to  go  out.  The  boys  cut  the 
wood  and  brought  it  in,  and  it  was  woman's  work  to  put 
it  in  the  stoves  and  sprinkle  in  the  flame  a  fragrant  gum 
much  used  in  worship.  Such  of  the  girls  as  showed 
aptness  were  taught  to  embroider  cotton  cloth  in  gay 
colors  and  to  do  certain  kinds  of  fancy-work  in  feath- 
ers. Besides  weaving  this  cloth,  they  made  it  up  into  the 
quilted  armor  with  which  the  public  armory  was  stored. 
The  boys  were  no  less  industrious.  They  were  up  at 
sunrise,  and  climbed  to  the  temple-roof  to  hail  the  sun 
as  he  rose  over  the  mountain-walls  of  the  valley.  Here 
the  old  priests  stood  waiting,  with  their  solemn  faces 
turned  eastward,  until  the  first  red  rays  shot  upward  into 
the  cloudless  heavens.  Then,  amid  joyous  acclamation 
and  kissing  their  hands  to  the  orb  of  day,  a  hymn  was 
chanted  in  his  praise,  and  quails  and  incense  were  offered 
in  sacrifices  to  him  as  to  a  god.  At  other  times  the  boys 
connected  with  the  temple  were  sent  out  on  a  curious 
hunting  expedition  into  the  forests  which  then  covered 
the  mountains.  Accompanied  by  a  priest  who  understood 
the  business,  they  gathered  spiders,  small  serpents,  scor- 
pions, and  other  poisonous  creatures  with  which  the 
country  abounds.  These  were  brought  back  to  the  tem- 
ple and  burned  with  tobacco  in  a  very  ceremonious  way. 
Out  of  this  disgusting  mixture  was  made  a  sacred  oint- 


120  ABOVT  MEXICO. 

ment  with  which  the  priests  rubbed  themselves,  offering 
it  also  to  the  idols  in  sacrifice. 

Many  of  a  boy's  occupations  were  such  as  might  be 
classed  among  amusements.  Once  in  their  month  of 
twenty  days  the  Aztecs  had  a  religious  festival,  when  the 
braves  of  the  tribe  appeared  in  their  gay  costumes,  each 
in  the  color  of  his  clan,  to  engage  in  feats  of  arms.  The 
boys,  with  their  teachers,  were  obliged  to  attend  this  re- 
hearsal, which  generally  took  place  in  the  public  square 
surrounding  the  great  temple. 

Everything  was  regulated  by  government  orders.  The 
tenth  day  of  February  was  set  apart  for  what  the  Mexi- 
can boys  knew  as  "fishing-day."  It  was  a  great  holiday, 
even  when  the  sport  was  so  carefully  regulated  by  the 
elders  that  in  our  free-and-easy  times  it  would  not  be 
called  sport  at  all.  These  Indian  boys  were  taught  to 
catch  water-fowls  by  a  very  ingenious  stratagem.  An 
empty  gourd  was  left  floating  on  the  water  so  long  that 
the  birds  became  used  to  the  sight  of  it.  The  fowler 
then  came  quietly  among  the  birds,  wearing  on  his  head 
another  gourd,  pierced  with  eyeholes,  his  hands  being  free 
to  drag  his  hapless  victims  under  water  by  their  legs. 
They  also  snared  game  as  our  Indians  do — by  driving 
the  wild  animals  they  used  for  food  into  a  net  or  pitfall, 
or  by  surrounding  them. 

Some  of  the  occupations  of  these  Indian  boys  deserve 
the  name  of  play.  They  had  a  ball-game  like  tennis,  for 
which  courts  were  built.  In  some  of  the  communal 
houses  still  found  in  the  southern  part  of  Mexico  the 
elegant  rooms  which  were  used  for  this  purpose  are 
found,  showing  the  luxurious  character  of  the  people 
who  built  them.  They  played  with  india-rubber  balls, 
and  managed  to  carry  on  the  game  without  using  their 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  MEXICO.  121 

hands  or  their  feet.  Whoever  touched  the  ball  with 
either  hand  or  foot  was  out. 

At  fifteen  the  boys  were  put  into  a  public  school  of 
arms,  under  the  care  of  experienced  chiefs  deputed  by  the 
council  for  that  business ;  here  they  were  taught  to  han- 
dle weapons  skillfully.  The  lads  then  entered  the  ranks 
of  the  warriors.  Long  and  rapid  marches  were  common, 
and,  as  the  youth  went  fully  armed  or  carried  the  arms 
of  one  of  the  warriors,  he  soon  found  that  war  was  no 
pastime.  The  lads  also  carried  the  baggage  of  priests 
who  were  traveling  on  religious  errands.  Their  gradu- 
ating-day  came  in  our  month  of  May,  when  the  feast  of 
the  god  Tezcaltipoca  was  celebrated.  It  was  always  a 
joyous  occasion,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  on  that  day  a 
young  man,  the  fairest,  noblest  and  most  gifted  of  the 
captives,  was  offered  in  sacrifice  to  this  god.  For  a  whole 
year  the  victim  had  been  petted  and  feasted ;  that  day  all 
his  fine  clothes  were  taken  from  him,  and  his  gay  com- 
panions, his  luxurious  quarters,  his  music,  flowers  and 
games,  were  left  behind,  and,  surrounded  by  wild-eyed 
priests,  he  went  with  a  solemn  procession  to  a  bloody 
death  outside  the  city.  But  it  was  a  gala-day  for  the 
lads  in  the  temple.  The  women  prepared  a  feast  for 
them,  including  a  graduating-cake  sweetened  with  honey. 
It  was  the  great  frolic  of  their  lives.  They  sang  and 
jested  and  raced  in  the  temple-corridors.  Those  who 
were  in  the  classes  below  them  had  as  much  fun  at  their 
expense  as  the  young  people  of  our  times  have  on  All 
Fools'  day,  and  the  young  women  pelted  the  graduates 
as  they  ran  the  gauntlet  of  their  fellows. 

It  was  unlawful  for  an  Aztec  youth  to  remain  unmar- 
ried, and  his  matrimonial  affairs  were  generally  settled  by 
the  time  that  temple-service  and  education  were  ended. 


122  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

He  had  not  the  trouble  of  proposing  to  the  young  woman 
who  was  to  be  his  wife;  that  was  the  business  of  his  clan, 
who  employed  one  of  their  matrons  as  a  go-between  to 
arrange  the  matter  for  both  parties.  The  wife  was  pur- 
chased, and  became  the  property  of  her  husband.  The 
first  step  was  to  find  out,  not  whether  the  young  lady  was 
willing,  but  whether  the  birth-stars  of  the  young  people 
agreed.  If  this  question  was  settled  to  satisfaction,  the 
marriage  ceremonies  went  on.  After  a  long  exhortation 
from  the  priest  the  young  people  were  united  by  tying 
their  garments  together  in  a  strong  knot ;  they  then 
walked  seven  times  around  the  fire,  casting  incense  into 
it.  After  this  the  pair  fasted  four  days  and  did  penance 
in  perfect  silence,  sitting  on  the  floor,  and  the  marriage 
ceremony  was  complete. 

In  October,  when  it  was  believed  that  all  the  gods  ar- 
rived on  a  visit  to  earth,  cornmeal  was  strewn  on  the 
floor  outside  of  Tezcaltipoca's  shrine,  in  order  that  his 
footsteps  should  be  seen  as  he  entered.  On  the  twen- 
tieth of  the  month  the  boys,  dressed  to  look  as  much 
like  monsters  as  possible,  had  a  dance  around  a  great 
fire  in  the  square.  The  old  chiefs  got  drunk  if  they 
chose  (a  privilege  never  allowed  the  young  men),  and 
always  burnt  a  prisoner  or  two  before  their  revels  were 
ended. 

With  all  their  ferocity,  there  were  some  softer  traits  in 
the  character  of  the  Aztecs  which  relieve  the  picture  of 
those  days.  Amid  the  universal  despair  which  marked 
the  festival  of  year-binding,  when  property  went  to 
wreck  and  the  whole  country  seemed  shrouded  with 
mourning,  the  Aztec  mother  covered  her  baby's  face 
while  the  priestly  procession  marched  by  her  door,  lest, 
if  the  world  should  be  destined  to  survive  for  another 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  MEXICO.  123 

cycle  of  fifty  years,  her  little  one  should  live  on  as  a 
mouse. 

The  temple  of  the  goddess  Sentol,  who  was  supposed 
to  preside  over  the  harvests,  was  visited  in  May  by  troops 
of  little  girls,  who  came  bringing  ears  of  corn  to  be 
blessed.  These  ears  were  afterward  taken  home  and 
put  in  the  granary,  in  order  to  sanctify  all  that  was 
in  it. 

In  time  of  famine  poor  parents  were  taught  by  the 
priests  that  they  would  win  special  favor  of  the  gods  by 
selling  their  little  ones  for  sacrifice.  The  price  of  a  boy- 
baby  was  but  a  basket  of  corn,  and  a  girl  brought  still 
less.  Tlaloc,  god  of  storms,  received  most  of  these  offer- 
ings. The  poor  little  creatures  had  their  faces  painted, 
brightly-tinted  paper  wings  were  fastened  to  their  shoul- 
ders, and,  dressed  in  gay  clothing,  they  were  borne  along 
the  streets  in  litters  fancifully  decorated  with  feathers  and 
flowers,  to  be  drowned  in  a  whirlpool  or  exposed  to  birds 
of  prey  on  the  mountains.  If  the  frightened  children 
cried  on  the  way  to  their  death,  so  much  the  better.  A 
din  was  kept  up  in  the  streets  as  they  passed  along,  to 
drown  their  piteous  wail.  At  the  water's  edge  the  priests 
received  them  and  carried  them  to  their  doom.  For  their 
comfort  the  weeping  mothers  were  told  that  the  souls  of 
children  thus  devoted  to  Tlaloc  went  after  death  to  a  cool, 
delightful  place  where  they  were  happier  than  they  could 
possibly  have  been  on  earth.  There  was  a  hall  in  the 
inner  part  of  the  great  temple  where  these  souls  of  the 
little  ones  were  supposed  to  come  on  a  certain  day  each 
year  to  assist  in  the  service,  and  thither  went  these  poor 
mothers  to  commune  with  the  departed  spirits  or  to  think 
over  their  meritorious  act  of  devotion. 


124  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

STORY  OF  THE  YOUTH  OF  HUNGRY  Fox. 

Some  of  the  descendants  of  Indian  chiefs  who  were 
carried  to  Spain  became  noblemen  in  their  adopted  coun- 
try. Two  of  them  wrote  histories  of  ancient  Mexico. 
The  pictures  of  imperial  splendor  with  which  they  daz- 
zled the  eyes  of  their  European  readers  were,  no  doubt, 
highly  colored  to  suit  the  times  and  to  vindicate  their 
own  claim  'to  rank  with  the  princes  of  Spain.  The 
brightest  figure  which  they  describe  is  that  of  a  chief 
who  was,  no  doubt,  a  king  among  men,  whatever  may 
have  been  his  office  or  his  title.  The  story  of  his  boy- 
hood and  his  youth  is  a  picture  of  life  in  one  of  the  pala- 
tial houses  of  Mexico  during  one  of  its  stormiest  ages. 

About  one  hundred  years  before  the  Spanish  came  into 
the  valley  the  city  of  Tezcuco  was  taken  by  its  neighbors, 
the  Tepanacs,  and  its  people  were  brought  under  trib- 
ute to  the  conquerors.  The  son  of  the  Tezcucan  chief 
was  then  a  boy  of  fifteen  just  graduated  from  school, 
and  probably  out  in  his  first  battle.  When  the  Tezcu- 
cans  were  forced  to  retreat,  the  boy  took  refuge  in  a  tree. 
While  hiding  there  he  saw  his  father  and  a  few  faithful 
followers  overpowered  by  the  enemy  and  literally  cut  to 
pieces.  He  waited  until  the  victors  had  gone,  when  he 
cautiously  made  his  way  down  and  fled  away,  only  to  be 
discovered  and  carried  in  triumph  to  the  Tepanac  city. 
With  fettered  hands  and  a  yoke  about  his  neck,  he  moved 
on  with  a  sad  procession  of  captives  through  the  fields  and 
the  forests,  across  the  lake,  and  on  and  on  till  they  reached 
the  flower-wreathed  arches  under  which  the  Tepanac 
elders  and  women  greeted  their  victorious  army  with 
songs  of  welcome.  He  was  led  to  the  temple  to  bow 
before  the  idol,  and  then,  with  other  prisoners,  to  await 
the  death  which  his  captors  should  choose  for  him.  In 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  MEXICO.  125 

this  place  of  doom  he  found  that  the  keeper  of  the  prison 
was  one  of  his  father's  old  friends.  As  the  story  goes, 
the  old  man,  knowing  that  no  ransom  was  possible  in 
the  case,  offered  to  take  his  place  in  the  cell — a  kind- 
ness which  cost  him  his  life.  After  his  release  the  boy 
found  his  way  to  the  Aztec  capital,  and  through  the  in- 
fluence of  friends  there  he  was  allowed  to  cross  the  lake 
to  his  old  home  in  Tezcuco.  Here  he  lived  a  quiet, 
studious  life  for  eight  years,  watched,  no  doubt,  by  the 
eagle-eyes  of  the  Tepanac  deputy,  who  never  forgot  that 
some  day  the  slain  chief  would  be  avenged  by  the  hands 
of  his  son. 

In  time  a  new  Tepauac  chief  was  elected,  more  fierce 
and  suspicious  than  the  conqueror  of  Tezcuco,  and  con- 
gratulations on  his  accession  to  office  seem  to  have  been 
expected  from  all  his  tributaries.  Our  young  Tezcucan 
came  with  others,  bringing  an  offering  of  flowers ;  but  a 
cold  reception  awaited  him,  and  he  was  warned  that  his 
life  was  in  danger.  He  returned  to  Tezcuco  as  soon  as 
possible,  only  to  find  that  his  life  was  not  safe  there  even 
in  his  capacity  of  a  humble  student.  Maxtla,  the  Tepa- 
nac chief,  had  determined  that  he  should  die.  Orders 
were  given  that  he  should  be  murdered  while  attending 
one  of  the  religious  festivals.  His  teacher,  with  fatherly 
care  for  the  youth,  put  in  his  place  a  person  who  strongly 
resembled  his  pupil,  and  thus  a  second  time  was  his  life 
saved  by  the  sacrifice  of  that  of  another. 

Maxtla  now  sent  a  strong  body  of  soldiers  to  Tezcuco, 
with  orders  to  kill  the  young  man  wherever  or  whenever 
they  found  him.  He  was  playing  ball  in  the  courtyard 
with  a  party  of  friends,  and,  desiring  to  finish  the  game, 
he  ordered  refreshments  to  be  set  before  the  soldiers. 
Without  losing  sight  of  their  intended  victim,  the  hun- 


126  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

gry  men  sat  down  to  eat.  Now,  Tezcucan  etiquette  de- 
manded that  guests  should  be  welcomed  with  the  sweet 
fumes  of  incense.  The  attendants  were  told  to  heap  the 
burning  censer,  which  stood  in  the  doorway,  high  with 
fragrant  gums,  until  such  a  dense  smoke  arose  that  by  its 
aid  the  young  man  slipped  away  unobserved  and  hid  in 
the  earthen  pipes  of  an  aqueduct  under  the  house. 
When  night  came  on,  the  fugitive  made  his  way  into 
the  street  and  to  the  cottage  of  a  friend  not  far  away. 
A  price  was  now  set  on  his  head  and  a  reward  offered  to 
any  one  who  would  bring  him,  dead  or  alive,  to  Maxtla. 

The  close  search  which  followed  reminds  us  of  King 
David's  wandering  life  among  the  hills  of  old  Judea. 
At  one  time  the  youth  is  hidden  by  friendly  hands  under 
a  heap  of  maguey-fibres  which  had  been  prepared  for  the 
loom ;  then  he  is  heard  of  in  the  wild  mountain-fast- 
nesses of  Tlascala,  living  on  roots  and  herbs.  Ventur- 
ing out,  he  is  tracked  to  a  field  where  a  girl  is  cutting 
chia,  a  plant  used  in  making  a  favorite  Mexican  beverage. 
The  girl  recognizes  him,  and,  hearing  his  pursuers  not 
far  away,  she  hides  him  under  the  pile  of  chia  stalks 
which  she  has  just  cut,  in  time  to  put  the  baffled  soldiers 
on  a  wrong  track.  It  was  during  these  days  of  suffering 
and  peril  that  the  young  Tezcucau  took  the  name  of 
Nezacoyuhuatl  ("  Hungry  Fox "),  which  he  afterward 
made  so  famous  as  that  of  a  warrior,  a  philosopher,  a 
lawgiver  and  a  poet. 

When  by  the  help  of  their  Aztec  confederates  the 
Tezcucans  regained  their  ancient  power,  Hungry  Fox 
beautified  their  city  on  the  lake-side  until  in  splendor 
and  extent  it  must  have  equaled  the  grandest  cities 
of  Central  America.  The  remains  of  one  of  his  palatial 
dwellings — which  was  said  to  have  contained  three  hun- 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  MEXICO.  127 

dred  rooms — have  furnished  an  inexhaustible  quarry  for 
the  churches  and  the  public  buildings  erected  by  the 
Spaniards  near  its  site.  In  one  of  the  magnificent  parks 
laid  out  under  the  direction  of  this  chief  the  humble  name 
he  bore  was  frequently  set  forth  in  the  lean  figure  of  a 
coyote,  or  fox,  carved  in  stone.  He  never  seemed  to  be 
weary  of  picturing  those  days  of  trial  when  he  was  a 
hunted  fugitive  in  the  land  over  which  he  became  chief 
ruler.  Some  of  his  poems,  preserved  to  this  day  in  the 
writings  of  his  great  grandson,  remind  us  of  the  book  of 
Ecclesiastes ;  they  have  the  same  sad  refrain  :  "  Vanity 
of  vanities,  all  is  vanity !"  With  all  that  the  world 
could  give,  Hungry  Fox  found  it  to  be  an  unsatisfying 
portion.  To  him  the  past  was  not  more  full  of  sorrow 
than  the  future  was  of  doubt,  and  in  the  chilling  shadow 
of  both  the  present  had  no  true  light  or  peace. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

A  GATHERING  CLOUD. 

pENTURIES  had  -passed   since  Feathered  Serpent 

V'   sailed  from   Mexico  to  his  unknown  home  in  the 

East.     His  was  probably  the  last  pale  face  seen  in  that 

part  of  the  continent  until  Columbus,  searching  for  a 

gateway  to  India,  coasted  along  Honduras  in  1504. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  on  this  voyage  the  Span- 
ish vessels,  which  had  stopped  at  an  island  to  fill  their 
water-casks,  saw  a  large  canoe  coming  landward,  prob- 
ably on  the  same  errand.  It  brought  a  trading-party  of 
Indians  from  some  point  on  the  mainland.  The  first 
glimpse  which  Europeans  had  of  Mexico  was  gained 
from  the  account  which  these  voyagers  gave.  For  fifteen 
years,  or  more,  however,  no  effort  was  made  to  follow  up 
this  clue.  Meanwhile,  the  Mexican  traders  went  home 
with  news  which  must  have  thrilled  every  gossip  in  all 
that  region.  Not  one  of  their  party  had  seen  a  white 
man  before.  The  bearded  sailors,  their  white-winged 
ships,  the  strange  goods  oifered  in  barter,  together  with 
the  fact  that  they  hailed  from  the  East,  stirred  anew  the 
hope  cherished  by  many  thoughtful  Mexicans  that  Feath- 
ered Serpent  was  about  to  fulfill  his  promise  to  return, 
gather  his  followers  about  him,  and  once  more  become 
the  leader  and  the  benefactor  of  their  long  oppressed 
and  divided  people. 

128 


A   GATHERING   CLOUD.  129 

For  more  than  one  hundred  years  had  the  Aztecs  been 
preying  on  other  tribes.  There  was  scarcely  a  tribe  south 
of  the  table-land,  from  the  Gulf  to  the  ocean  and  as  far 
down  the  coast  as  Yucatan,  but  was  feeding  this  proud 
people  with  its  best  products.  Field  and  fishery,  mine 
and  workshop,  were  subject  to  the  cruel  exactions  of  a 
resident  officer  appointed  by  one  or  all  of  the  confederate 
tribes.  Most  cruel  tyranny  of  all,  the  flower  of  the 
youth  were  yearly  claimed  for  sacrifice  upon  the  altars 
of  these  allies.  We  hear  of  a  few  tribes  who  would 
not  bow  their  necks  to  the  yoke.  Brave  Tlascala — 
a  little  republic  penned  up  in  the  mountains  between 
Mexico  and  the  sea — went  for  years  without  cotton, 
salt  or  cacao  because  she  could  not  produce  these  articles 
herself  and  would  not  admit  confederate  traders  lest  they 
should  prove  to  be  spies.  Feeble  remnants  of  several 
other  tribes  still  existing  can  proudly  boast  that  no 
banner  of  Montezuma's  ever  floated  above  their  land. 

Old  prophecies  about  Feathered  Serpent  now  loomed 
up  as  never  before.  There  were  storms  and  floods,  earth- 
quakes and  meteors,  which  gloomily  heralded  his  ap- 
proach. One  night  in  1517,  when  there  was  no  earth- 
quake, nor  even-  a  storm  in  the  air,  Lake  Tezcuco  rose 
suddenly  in  a  great  wave  and  flooded  the  city.  Comets 
glared  in  the  sky,  and  once  a  strange  untimely  light  in 
the  east  seemed  the  forerunner  of  a  new  sun.  Would 
not  the  Fair  God — as  Feathered  Serpent  was  called — be 
angry  when  he  came  back  and  found  his  altars  polluted 
with  blood  and  his  name  made  hateful  to  those  who  were 
groaning  under  the  burdens  imposed  upon  them  by  the 
Aztec  religion  ? 

Whether  or  not  Montezuma,  the  Aztec  "  chief-of-men  " 
in  those  days,  had  a  part  in  thus  misrepresenting  Feathered 


130  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

Serpent  we  cannot  tell.  When  chosen  by  his  peers  to 
fill  this  high  office,  he  was  a  priest  in  the  great  temple, 
and  as  such  he  must  have  known  that  Feathered  Serpent 
had  forbidden  the  loathsome  and  cruel  rites  which 
through  Aztec  influence  had  become  common.  As  a 
priest  he  was  well  read,  also,  in  the  ancient  history  of 
his  people.  Nothing  disheartened  him  so  much  as 
prophecies  about  Feathered  Serpent.  He  believed  that 
he  was  a  man  of  flesh  and  blood  like  himself,  whose  fol- 
lowers might  be  expected  to  come  again  at  any  time  to 
Mexico  to  fulfill  his  promised  mission.  If  they  did,  a 
revolution  was  certain.  Montezuma  would  no  longer  be 
"  chief-of-men "  and  Aztec  power  would  be  humbled. 
These  thoughts  filled  the  chief  with  the  deepest  gloom. 
Humors  of  the  visit  of  Columbus  to  America  and  the 
presence  of  Spanish  colonists  in  Cuba  were  probably 
afloat,  and  had  reached  the  ears  of  the  ever-vigilant 
council  of  chiefs.  A  coast-guard  was  on  duty  night  and 
day,  and  fleet-footed  couriers  were  ready  to  bear  the  news 
of  an  invasion  to  the  proud  city  on  the  lake. 

None  were  so  frequently  consulted  in  the  council  as 
were  the  shaggy-haired  priests.  Their  night-watches  in 
the  towers  of  the  great  teocallis  gave  them  the  best  pos- 
sible opportunity  of  reading  the  stars.  In  no  other  way 
could  the  dark-minded  Mexicans  come  so  near  to  Him 
who  made  them  as  by  studying  the  movements  of  the 
celestial  bodies.  But  every  sign  now  foretold  disaster. 
In  vain  the  soothsayers  went  through  long  fasts  and 
cruel  penances.  The  gods  did  not  hear,  though  prayers 
to  them  were  mumbled  with  tongues  torn  and  bleeding 
with  the  thorns  worn  to  gain  their  favor. 

Not  long  before  the  arrival  of  the  white  men  a  priest- 
ess, a  maiden  nearly  related  to  Montezuma,  professed  to 


A   GATHERING  CLOUD.  131 

have  had  a  vision  of  tall-masted  ships  approaching  the 
shore,  and  of  pale-faced,  bearded  men  in  strange  cloth- 
ing landing  on  the  coast  with  instruments  of  warfare 
unknown  to  her  people.  But  beyond  her  ken,  far  over 
the  blue  waves  which  Feathered  Serpent  crossed  in  his 
retreat,  a  great  nation  was  unconsciously  preparing  for 
the  conquest  of  Mexico. 

The  earliest  Spanish  colonies  were  planted  on  several 
of  the  West  India  Islands.  Every  ship  brought  a  horde 
of  needy  adventurers.  In  their  insatiable  thirst  for  gold 
they  trod  down  the  gentle,  indolent  race  they  found  there 
until  not  one  was  left.  The  most  cruel  slavery  prevailed 
wherever  a  Spaniard  set  his  foot. 

As  the  islanders  melted  away  before  their  taskmasters, 
slave-hunting  expeditions  were  fitted  out  by  the  planters 
to  ravage  other  islands  in  search  of  new  victims.  It 
was  during  one  of  these  slave-hunts  that  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  was  discovered.  Francisco  Hernandez  de  Cor- 
dova, a  Spanish  planter  in  Cuba,  was  on  his  way  to  the 
Bahamas  after  a  cargo  of  slaves,  when  a  fearful  storm 
drove  the  vessel  far  out  of  her  course  toward  the  west. 
After  tossing  about  for  three  weeks  he  landed  on  the 
coast  of  Yucatan.  He  found  there  a  people  very  differ- 
ent from  the  islanders  among  whom  he  had  lived.  The 
adventurers  landed  near  a  large  Indian  town.  The  in- 
habitants came  out  to  see  them,  and  seemed  at  first  very 
friendly.  But  this  proved  to  be  a  stratagem  to  draw  the 
visitors  into  a  tetter  position  for  the  battle  which  the 
natives  intended  to  bring  on.  They  had  heard  of  the 
Spaniards  and  their  white-winged  ships,  and  probably 
of  their  slave-hunts,  and  determined  to  have  nothing  to 
do  with  the  treacherous  palefaces.  In  the  fight  which 
they  provoked  with  the  Spaniards  it  was  proved  that  the 


132  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

natives  were  no  match  for  the  invaders,  though  they  suc- 
ceeded in  wounding  several  of  them  with  the  darts  and 
the  flint-edged  wooden  swords  which  they  carried.  De 
Cordova  took  to  his  boats  again  with  his  men,  and, 
keeping  in  sight  of  land,  went  north  and  landed  in 
Campeachy.  The  people  here,  though  more  civil  than 
their  neighbors  down  the  coast,  were  no  better  pleased 
to  see  the  strangers. 

Here  were  well-built  temples  of  stone.  The  priests,  in 
long  white  garments,  came  with  censers  full  of  burning 
coals  in  their  hands.  On  these  they  dropped  sweet- 
scented  gums,  and  swung  them  before  their  visitors  to 
perfume  the  air.  Others  had  bundles  of  dried  reeds, 
which  they  laid  in  order  on  the  ground  and  set  on  fire, 
motioning  that  if  their  visitors  did  not  go  back  to  their 
vessels  before  those  reeds  were  burned  up  it  would  be 
worse  for  them.  They  stood  silently  about  the  little 
fire,  waiting  with  folded  hands  the  departure  of  the  in- 
truders. This  gentle  hint  was  taken,  or  there  would 
have  been  another  battle — as  there  was  not  long  after- 
ward, when  De  Cordova  landed  at  a  large  village  called 
Potonchan.  There  were  farmers  living  in  large,  sub- 
stantial stone  houses  surrounded  by  cornfields.  The 
Spaniards  stopped  here  to  fill  their  water-casks  at  a 
spring,  when  the  natives  attacked  them,  killing  forty- 
seven,  wounding  others  and  taking  five  prisoners.  Five 
of  De  Cordova's  men  died  on  board  ship,  and  he  him- 
self lived  but  a  few  days  after  his  return  to  Cuba. 

This  expedition  brought  back  a  good  report  of  the 
country.  De  Cordova  had  kidnapped  two  of  the  young 
men  of  Yucatan,  clad  in  their  native  costume.  Nothing 
interested  his  Spanish  neighbors,  however,  so  much  as  the 
ornaments  of  wrought  gold  which  these  savages  wore. 


INDIGENOS  OF   NORTHERN  GUATEMALA. 


134 


ABOUT  MEXICO. 


They  imagined  that  this  new  "  island  "  was  full  of  mines 
of  gold,  silver  and  precious  stones.  They  had  been  dis- 
appointed in  the  mineral  riches  of  Cuba ;  here  was  the 
opening  of  which  they  had  dreamed.  The  governor  of 
Cuba,  Velasquez,  lost  no  time  in  fitting  out  an  expe- 
dition to  go  in  search  of  these  treasures.  He  gave  the 
command  to  Juan  de  Grijalva,  his  nephew,  who  set  sail 
May  1,  1518,  for  this  new  field  of  conquest.  If  the  In- 
dians received  them  peaceably,  Grijalva  had  gay  cloths 


EARLY    DISCOVERIES 
IN    NEW    SPAIN. 


and  trinkets  for  presents  and  barter ;  if  they  were  hos- 
tile, he  was  provided  with  guns  and  ammunition. 

Grijalva's  fleet  was  caught  in  a  storm.  After  beating 
about  for  a  while  he  was  borne  on  its  strong  wings  to 
Cozumel,  a  small  island  south  of  the  north-eastern  corner 
of  Yucatan.  He  soon  crossed  over  the  mainland  and 
went  to  Potonchan,  where  the  farmers  had  so  roughly 
handled  De  Cordova  and  his  men.  This  second  visit 
ended  in  a  second  battle,  in  which  the  Spaniards  were 
victorious. 


A   GATHERING  CLOUD.  135 

As  the  voyagers  sailed  westward  along  the  coast  for 
several  hundred  miles  they  saw  with  admiring  eyes  pleas- 
ant villages  surrounded  with  luxuriant  trees  and  wide- 
spreading  fields.  The  houses  and  temples,  so  lofty  and 
white  in  the  distance,  reminded  the  strangers  of  their 
native  land,  and  they  called  the  whole  region  New  Spain 
— a  name  it  bore  on  European  maps  for  many  a  year. 

While  Grijalva  was  on  the  borders  of  Mexico  the  great 
council  of  the  Aztec  nation  sent  some  of  their  police- 
officers  down  to  the  coast  to  interview  the  visitors.  They 
could  communicate  with  each  other  only  by  signs,  it  is 
true,  but  in  this  pursuit  of  knowledge  under  difficulties 
both  parties  were  deeply  impressed.  The  Aztecs  gave 
Grijalva  to  understand  that  they  came  by  the  orders  of 
Montezuma,  a  great  chief  who  lived  some  distance  from 
Tabasco,  to  the  north-west.  This  is  the  first  mention  in 
European  history  of  the  now-famous  chief,  Montezuma. 

Touching  at  San  Juan  d'Ulua,  the  Spaniards  saw  a 
temple  where  bloody  remains  showed  that  human  sacri- 
fices had  just  been  offered.  This  sickening  sight  stirred 
up  their  religious  zeal  and  reminded  them  that  the  con- 
version of  the  savages  to  Christianity  should  be  one  great 
object  in  their  journey  to  the  West. 

As  soon  as  possible  after  his  nephew's  return  Governor 
Velasquez  prepared  to  follow  up  his  expedition  with  one 
which  should  bring  more  glory  to  Spanish  arms  and 
more  gold  into  his  own  pockets.  Grijalva  had  done  so 
much  better  as  an  explorer  than  he  had  done  as  a  sol- 
dier that  he  was  displaced  and  the  command  given  to 
Hernando  Cortez,  who  had  been  one  of  the  conquerors 
of  Cuba  in  1511,  and  was  now  master  of  a  fine  planta- 
tion. He  was  young,  handsome,  enterprising  and  pop- 
ular ;  recruits  flocked  to  his  standard,  and  six  ships  were 


136  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

soon  fitted  out.  One  hundred  and  fifty  of  Grijalva's 
followers  enlisted  under  Cortez,  besides  other  volunteers 
numbering  six  hundred  men.  While  in  Trinidad  the  sol- 
diers were  set  to  work  to  quilt  their  jackets  with  cotton, 
which  grew  in  great  abundance  around  the  place.  This 
was  a  fashion  borrowed  from  the  Indians,  and  served  a 
good  purpose  in  warding  off  the  arrows  used  in  battle. 
Hard  fighting  was  expected,  but  little  did  the  busy  army 
of  quilters  dream  of  the  bloody  struggle  before  them,  or 
how  great  and  far-reaching  would  be  its  consequences. 

The  instructions  given  by  the  Spanish  authorities  to 
their  military  leaders  in  the  New  World  were  such  as 
would  suit  an  army  of  crusaders.  Such,  in  fact,  the  in- 
vaders were,  though  their  zeal  for  Christianity  spent  itself 
in  forcing  the  pagans  to  bow  to  crosses  and  images  and  to 
accept  the  pope  as  lord  of  lords.  This  potentate  had  kindly 
divided  all  the  world  outside  of  Europe  between  his  faith- 
ful children  the  king  of  Spain  and  the  king  of  Portugal. 
Several  popes  had  given  to  the  latter  the  undiscovered 
world  from  Cape  Bojador,  in  Africa,  to  India.  On  the 
4th  of  May,  1493,  Alexander  VI.  published  a  bull  in 
which  he  drew  an  imaginary  line  from  the  north  pole 
to  the  south  pole  one  hundred  leagues  west  of  the  Azores, 
giving  to  Spain  all  that  lay  west  and  to  Portugal  all  that 
lay  east  of  it.  With  a  commission  from  his  king  to  take 
possession  of  such  an  inheritance,  and  one  from  Rome  to 
convert  all  the  heathen,  each  soldier  felt  himself  to  be  a 
Heaven-sent  missionary,  and,  however  wicked  he  might 
otherwise  be,  his  good  work  for  the  Church  would  atone 
for  all  his  sins  and  secure  for  him  at  last  a  seat  in  para- 
dise. The  flag  of  the  expedition  showed  that  it  was  going 
on  a  religious  errand.  On  a  ground  of  white  and  blue 
was  a  red  cross  surrounded  with  flames  of  fire.  Its 


PRETEXT   INHABITANTS  OF    MERIDA,   YUCATAN. 


138  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

motto,  translated,  was,  "  Friends,  let  us  follow  the  cross; 
in  that  sign  we  shall  conquer." 

After  a  solemn  celebration  of  the  mass  and  a  devout 
prayer  to  St.  James,  the  patron  saint  of  Cortez,  the  ex- 
pedition sailed  for  Mexico,  February  18,  1519,  in  six 
ships,  the  largest  of  which  were  only  from  seventy  to 
eighty  tons  burden.  The  fleet  took  the  route  to  Yuca- 
tan, intending  to  creep  westward  along  the  shore  until 
the  domain  of  the  great  Indian  chief  was  reached.  Two 
priests,  Olmedo  and  Juan  Diaz,  accompanied  the  army ; 
the  latter  had  been  over  the  ground  before  with  Grijalva. 
Both  were  very  much  in  earnest  about  their  missionary 
work. 

The  first  attempts  seem  to  have  been  more  successful 
than  some  which  followed.  On  the  island  of  Cozumel 
was  a  large  temple  to  which  pilgrims  came  from  long 
distances.  Near  it  stood  a  huge  stone  cross  which  from 
the  earliest  times  had  been  adored  as  the  god  of  rain. 
Cortez  began  his  work  of  reform  in  this  holy  place.  As 
but  very  little  could  be  done  in  the  way  of  preaching,  on 
account  of  ignorance  of  the  language,  Cortez  gave  the 
natives  an  object-lesson  by  ordering  his  men  to  pull  down 
the  gods  enshrined  in  the  temple.*  The  people  shud- 
dered at  his  impiety,  groaned  and  wrung  their  hands, 
expecting  that  fire  would  come  down  from  heaven  to 
punish  this  sacrilege.  Then,  finding  that  no  such  re- 
sult followed,  they  yielded  after  a  slight  resistance,  and 
even  helped  the  soldiers  to  pull  down  the  old  idols,  whose 
impotency  had  been  made  so  plain,  and  to  put  up  the 
saints  and  the  Virgin  in  their  places.  This  done,  they 
began  to  burn  incense  before  the  new  gods  and  to  offer 

«•  *  The  ruins  of  this  temple  are  still  to  be  seen  on  this  now-deserted 
island. 


A   GATHERING  CLOUD.  139 

corn,  fruits  and  quails,  and  asked  Cortez  to  leave  with 
them  a  teacher  who  could  instruct  them  in  this  new  re- 
ligion. 

Two  of  the  natives  of  Yucatan  had  been  taken  to 
Cuba  by  Grijalva,  and  through  them  it  appeared  that 
several  Christian  captives  were  somewhere  on  the  main- 
land. Cortez  sent  a  ship  after  these  men,  and  one  of 
them  was  rescued.  This  was  Geronimo  de  Aguilar,  af- 
terward interpreter  to  the  army. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

NEW  SPAIN. 

work  accomplished  by  the  army  since  leaving 
J-  Cuba  might  well  encourage  Cortez  to  hope  that  his 
expedition,  so  far  as  missionary  work  was  concerned, 
would  be  entirely  successful.  The  idols  of  Cozumel, 
that  famous  heathen  shrine,  had  been  demolished,  the 
Virgin  and  saints  had  been  set  up  in  their  places,  and 
the  people  had  consented  to  sacrifice  to  them  rather  than 
to  their  old  gods. 

Leaving  this  hospitable  place,  the  fleet  sailed  for  Ta- 
basco. Grijalva's  reception  here  not  long  before  had 
been  very  cordial,  but  the  natives  seemed  to  have 
changed  their  minds  after  he  had  gone.  They  eyed  the 
Spaniards  suspiciously  through  the  loopholes  of  a  strong 
timber  wall  which  surrounded  their  town,  and  took  all 
night  to  consider  the  polite  request  which  Cortez  sent,  to 
be  allowed  to  land  to  get  water  and  provisions.  Mean- 
while, the  women  and  the  children  had  been  stealthily 
carried  to  a  safe  place  in  the  mountains,  and  the  warriors 
of  the  tribe  rallied  to  defend  the  place. 

Finding  that  he  was  not  welcome  in  the  town,  Cortez 
landed  a  short  distance  below  it,  on  a  small  wooded  island. 
Here,  on  a  great  ceyba  tree,  he  made  three  cuts  with  his 
sword,  to  signify  that  he  had  taken  possession  of  the 
country  for  his  sovereign  and  the  pope  of  Rome.  The 

140 


NEW  SPAIN.  141 

next  morning  the  natives  came  in  several  boats  to  this 
spot,  bringing  as  a  gift  fowls,  fruit  and  vegetables,  with 
a  request  from  the  chiefs  that  the  visitors  would  "  take 
these  things  and  go  away,  never  to  trouble  their  country 
any  more." 

"  It  is  shameful  in  you  to  leave  us  to  perish  with  hun- 
ger and  thirst,"  said  Aguilar. 

"  You  are  strangers  to  us,"  replied  the  Indian  spokes- 
man ;  "  your  faces  and  your  voices  are  frightful  to  us. 
We  do  not  want  any  of  you  in  our  houses.  If  you  need 
water,  dip  it  up  out  of  the  river,  or  dig  wells  as  we  do." 

"  Tell  them,"  said  Cortez  to  Aguilar,  "  that  we  shall 
never  go  away  without  seeing  their  town.  I  have  been 
sent  here  by  the  greatest  lord  in  the  world,  and  I  cannot 
return  without  a  full  account  of  this  country.  If  they 
do  not  receive  me  as  a  friend,  I  shall  commend  myself  to 
God  and  fight  them." 

"  You  had  better  not  boast  in  a  country  which  does 
not  belong  to  you,"  retorted  the  chief.  "As  to  entering 
our  town,  we  shall  never  permit  it;  we  will  kill  you  all 
first." 

Both  parties  now  prepared  for  battle.  The  Indians 
came  out  with  defiant  yells.  Although  evidently  terri- 
fied at  the  roar  of  the  guns  and  the  sight  of  "  four-footed, 
two-headed  beasts "  (as  they  called  the  horses  and  their 
riders),  they  fought  bravely  until  they  were  attacked  on 
the  land-side  of  the  town,  when  they  fled.  Cortez  and 
his  men  slept  that  night  in  the  spacious  temple. 

After  another  attempt  to  dislodge  the  invaders,  the 
Indians  came  bringing  a  tribute  of  provisions,  gold  and 
a  number  of  victims  for  sacrifice,  in  token  that  they  had 
given  up  the  contest.  While  they  were  in  the  camp 
some  of  the  horses  stabled  near  by  began  to  neigh.  The 


142  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

Indians,  very  much  frightened,  asked  anxiously  what 
they  said,  supposing  that  these  strange  creatures  were 
gifted  with  speech.  Some  wag  of  a  soldier  replied, 

"  The  horses  are  angry  because  your  people  have  been 
fighting  their  masters." 

Upon  this,  the  simple-minded  natives  made  a  humble 
apology  to  the  animals,  offering  them  flowers  and  turkey- 
hens  to  eat. 

As  the  army  was  in  Tabasco  over  Palm  Sunday,  Cortez 
took  occasion  to  give  these  heathen  people  a  lesson  in 
Christianity.  He  marched  his  men  in  solemn  procession 
through  the  streets,  each  soldier  bearing  a  palm-branch  in 
his  hand.  The  scene  ended  on  the  high  platform  of  the 
temple.  Here,  in  view  of  the  awestruck  multitude,  the 
idols  were  taken  doAvii  and  a  Virgin  and  Child  put  in 
their  sacred  places.  The  priests  then  celebrated  mass 
and  baptized  the  natives  who  had  been  given  to  them 
as  tribute. 

A  more  cordial  welcome  awaited  the  fleet  at  its  next 
landing  on  the  coast  of  Mexico.  The  place  of  landing 
received  from  Cortez  the  name  of  San  Juan  d'Ulua. 
The  people  flocked  to  the  beach  and  with  smiles  and 
gestures  invited  the  ships  to  land.  Before  the  anchor 
could  be  dropped  two  canoes  were  alongside  the  flag- 
ship with  a  message  from  the  "governor."  The  new 
comers  asked  to  see  the  leader  of  the  squadron ;  and 
when  shown  into  his  presence,  they  bowed  low  and  said, 

"  Teuthile  has  sent  to  ask  what  people  you  are,  what 
is  your  business  here  and  what  he  can  do  for  you." 

The  language  was  so  different  from  that  which  Aguilar 
had  learned  in  Yucatan  that  it  was  necessary  to  keep  up 
the  conversation  by  signs.  With  the  help  of  a  good  sup- 
per, it  was  not  very  hard  to  make  the  messengers  under- 


NEW  SPAIN.  143 

stand  that  the  Spaniards  were  friendly  and  would  call  on 
their  master  the  next  day. 

Cortez  landed  on  Good  Friday,  April  21, 1519.  With 
the  help  of  their  Cuban  slaves  and  the  natives  the  army 
were  soon  sheltered  in  booths  and  tents,  while  a  great  cross 
of  wood  was  raised  in  the  centre  of  the  camp.  The  peo- 
ple, determined  to  see  all  that  was  going  on,  began  to  put 
up  huts  for  themselves,  brought  beds,  provisions  and  cook- 
ing-utensils, and  prepared  to  stay  while  the  great  show 
lasted.  Many  a  dainty  dish  cooked  in  native  style  found 
its  way  into  the  Spanish  camp  from  the  ovens  and  the 
kettles  of  these  thrifty  Indian  dames.  Yet  Cortez 
ordered  that  a  strict  watch  should  be  kept  against  In- 
dian treachery — a  precaution  which  the  lawless  character 
of  many  of  his  own  men  rendered  necessary. 

Teuthile  did  not  wait  for  the  promised  visit  from  Cor- 
tez. He  was  a  representative  of  the  Aztec  council — prob- 
ably one  of  their  collectors  of  tribute — and  he  knew  that 
it  was  his  duty  to  look  well  after  these  strangers.  He 
came  into  the  camp  the  next  morning  with  a  number  of 
attendants,  some  of  whom  were  porters  laden  with  pro- 
visions and  other  gifts  for  the  visitors.  He  paid  his  re- 
spects to  Cortez  by  burning  incense  before  him,  and  little 
straws  which  had  been  touched  with  his  own  blood.  In 
return  for  the  rich  ornaments  in  gold  and  silver  and 
feather- work  which  he  received,  Cortez  gave  a  robe  of 
silk,  a  glittering  necklace  of  glass,  curious  beads,  scissors, 
mirrors  and  articles  made  of  iron  and  wool — materials  of 
which  the  Mexicans  knew  nothing. 

So  far  it  had  not  been  necessary  to  use  words,  but  now 
there  might  have  been  awkward  pauses  but  for  a  conver- 
sation which  was  observed  between  one  of  the  deputy's  at- 
tendants and  Marina,  an  Indian  girl  who  had  been  given, 


144  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

among  other  articles  of  tribute,  to  the  Spaniards  at  Ta- 
basco. On  inquiry,  it  was  found  that  this  girl  was 
an  Aztec  by  birth,  of  the  tribe  Teuthile  represented,  a 
chief's  daughter,  who  after  her  father's  death  had  been 
sold  by  her  mother,  and  had  been  taken  south  to  Tabas- 
co. She  was  the  first  person  baptized  at  Tabasco,  and 
was  thus  the  first  nominal  Christian  Indian  in  all  Amer- 
ica. She  soon  brought  Cortez  and  Teuthile  into  conver- 
sation, and  afterward  became  chief  interpreter  between 
her  people  and  their  conquerors. 

It  was  on  Easter  Sunday  that  this  first  visit  of  the 
Aztecs  to  the  Spanish  camp  took  place.  Cortez  and  his 
men,  having  first  attended  mass,  invited  their  Indian 
guests  to  a  Spanish  dinner. 

As  they  were  viewing  the  camp  Teuthile  saw  a  gilt 
helmet  belonging  to  Cortez,  and  expressed  a  wish  that 
Montezuma  might  have  one  like  it.  Cortez  immediately 
handed  it  to  him,  saying, 

"  Take  it  to  your  master,  and  may  he  soon  return  it 
to  me  full  of  his  gold  !  I  wish  to  compare  it  with  some 
we  have  in  Spain." 

The  helmet  was  not  the  only  thing  sent  to  Moutezuma 
on  that  eventful  day.  Some  of  the  Spanish  officers,  ob- 
serving a  group  of  Aztecs  busy  in  one  corner,  went  to 
see  what  they  were  doing,  and  were  surprised  to  find 
that  they  were  official  reporters  getting  up  the  despatches 
which  their  chief  was  obliged  to  send  to  Mexico.  Pen- 
cil in  hand,  these  men  were  sketching  the  camp,  the 
Spanish  soldiers  in  their  helmets  and  coats  of  mail, 
the  horses — in  gala-array,  to  do  honor  to  the  occasion 
— the  black-throated  guns,  the  tall-masted  ships  riding 
at  anchor  not  far  away,  with  many  other  things  which 
they  did  not  comprehend,  but  which  gave  the  Mexican 


NEW  SPAIN.  145 

council  an  exact  idea  of  the  numbers  and  the  probable 
strength  of  these  visitors. 

Here  was  a  fine  opportunity  for  Cortez.  He  deter- 
mined that  these  despatches  should  make  a  sensation  such 
as  was  never  before  known  in  all  Mexico.  He  ordered  out 
his  men  for  a  full-dress  parade.  The  drums  beat  and  the 
bugles  sounded  an  alarm.  Instantly  the  troops  formed 
in  order  of  battle,  and  the  horses,  inspirited  not  only  by 
the  music,  but  by  the  roar  of  the  cannon,  pranced  about, 
while  the  heavy  shot,  aimed  at  the  dense  forest  back  of 
the  camp,  splintered  the  tree-branches  like  thunderbolts 
from  the  sky.  Some  of  the  Indians  fell  to  the  earth  and 
cowered  in  the  dust,  while  others  took  to  their  heels.  A 
chieftain's  dignity  was  for  the  moment  forgotten  in  that 
wild  rush  for  the  woods.  All  that  the  Aztecs  had  ever 
heard  of  gods  descending  to  the  earth  in  human  form 
W7as  now  revived.  Had  not  three  hundred  of  them  just 
arrived  and  taken  possession  of  the  country?  The  eifect 
which  Cortez  desired  having  been  produced,  he  soothed 
his  terror-stricken  guests  with  gentle  tones  and  reassuring 
smiles,  while  Marina,  who  had  heard  the  guns  at  Tabas- 
co, did  what  she  could  to  quiet  their  fears,  telling  them 
they  were  safe  from  the  power  of  these  terrible  black 
monsters,  which  were  now  in  the  hands  of  their  friends. 
When  the  confusion  was  over  and  the  painters  were  at 
work  again  on  their  despatches,  they  had  some  new  and 
startling  facts  to  report,  and  perhaps  nothing  more  so 
than  an  Aztec  stampede. 

In  a  few  days  ambassadors  from  the  City  of  Mexico 
made  their  appearance  in  camp  with  a  splendid  array  of 
presents  and  a  message  from  Montezuma.  They  said  he 
did  not  want  the  white  men  to  brave  the  dangers  and 
fatigue  of  the  long  road  to  Mexico,  neither  did  it  suit  the 
10 


146  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

dignity  of  his  office  to  come  and  see  the  strangers.  The 
presents  he  had  sent  would  express  his  good-will,  and  he 
desired  that  they  might  soon  return  with  safety  to  their 
own  country. 

If  anything  more  was  needed  to  excite  the  army  to 
press  on  and  examine  the  treasures  of  Mexico  for  them- 
selves, the  gifts  just  brought  to  their  camp  from  that 
wonderful  city  over  the  mountains  would  be  all  that 
was  necessary.  The  helmet  sent  to  Montezuma  was 
returned  at  this  time  filled  with  gold,  as  Cortez  had 
requested. 

A  troop  of  Indian  servitors  had  spread  mats  on  the 
ground  and  piled  thereon  in  great  heaps  the  goods  they 
had  brought.  Among  them  were  cotton  mantles  plaided 
in  gay  colors.  Others  were  shaggy  on  the  outside,  with  a 
white  lining,  woven  in  one  thickness ;  enough  garments 
of  this  description  were  given  to  clothe  Cortez  and  all 
his  men.  There  were  also  deerskin  shoes  embroidered 
with  gold  thread  and  having  white  and  blue  soles,  gilded 
shields  adorned  with  brilliant  feathers  and  seed-pearls, 
crowns  of  feathers  and  gold  mitres  set  with  precious 
stones  in  curious  patterns,  rich  plumes  fretted  with  gold 
and  pearls,  fans  in  magnificent  variety,  golden  fishes, 
birds,  animals,  sea-shells  of  gold  and  silver,  so  skillfully 
wrought  as  exactly  to  imitate  these  productions  of  nature, 
the  feathers,  skins  and  hair  being  superior  to  any  Euro- 
pean workmanship.  The  most  remarkable  objects  in  this 
collection  were  two  large  wheels,  or  disks,  one  of  gold 
and  the  other  of  silver,  representing  the  sun  and  the 
moon.  Both  were  formed  of  plates  of  these  metals,  on 
which  animals  and  other  objects  in  nature  were  wrought 
in  raised  figures  and  exquisitely  finished.  These  were 
Aztec  calendars,  representing  their  divisions  of  time, 


XEW  SPAIN.  147 

and  were  worth  two  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dol- 
lars. When  these  articles  were  sent  to  Spain,  they  were 
accompanied  by  four  Mexican  chiefs  and  two  native 
women.  These  appeared  before  the  emperor  Charles  V. 
dressed  in  their  native  costume.  The  warriors  had  jewels 
set  in  gold  hanging  from  their  ears  and  lips — a  fashion 
which  the  Spanish  courtiers  thought  very  unbecoming  in 
men,  but  one  which  these  Indians  considered  altogether 
ornamental.  This  exhibition  took  place  in  one  of  the 
northern  cities  in  Spain.  The  emperor,  after  questioning 
about  the  climate,  was  considerate  enough  to  send  his 
visitors  to  the  warmest  corner  of  Spain,  where  they 
need  not  be  exposed  to  sudden  changes  of  temperature. 

Montezuma's  gifts  only  whetted  the  Spaniards'  appetite 
for  gold.  However,  the  next  embassy  from  Mexico,  which 
came  in  a  few  days,  brought  more  gifts,  but  a  firm  re- 
fusal from  the  council  of  chiefs  to  allow  the  army  to 
approach  any  nearer  to  the  city. 

That  evening,  as  the  sun  sank  behind  the  woods  and 
the  Aztec  officials  were  preparing  to  leave,  the  bell  rang 
for  vespers.  There  was  a  sudden  dispersion  of  the  group 
which  always  gathered  about  the  presents.  Every  man 
hurried  to  the  large  wooden  cross  which  had  been  set  up 
in  camp,  and,  kneeling  on  the  sand,  began  to  pray  with 
the  most  ostentatious  devotion.  So  religious  a  people  as 
the  Aztecs  could  not  fail  to  understand  such  movements, 
although  they  did  not  know  what  god  was  addressed. 
Father  Olmedo  told  them  that  the  chief  object  of  this 
visit  of  Europeans  to  their  coast  was  to  bring  to  its  peo- 
ple a  knowledge  of  the  one  true  God  and  Jesus  Christ, 
whom  he  had  sent  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  show- 
ing them,  at  the  same  time,  an  image  of  the  Virgin  Mary 
with  the  infant  Jesus.  When  the  address  was  finished, 


148  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

this  image  was  formally  presented  to  the  Aztec  chiefs, 
with  the  request  that  they  would  set  it  up  in  their 
temple  instead  of  those  of  the  bloodthirsty  gods  which 
they  worshiped.  The  Aztecs  accepted  this  gift  very 
gravely,  thinking,  perhaps,  it  was  not  safe  to  dispute 
writh  preachers  who  could  back  their  arguments  with 
horses  and  cannon. 

The  next  morning  the  Spanish  sentinel,  when  he 
looked  in  the  direction  of  the  Indian  huts  by  which 
the  camp  was  surrounded,  found  that  they  were  all  de- 
serted ;  the  natives  had  stolen  away  in  the  night.  The 
venders  of  fruit,  vegetables  and  poultry  on  which  the 
army  had  depended  for  its  supplies  had  vanished,  and 
the  invaders  were  left  between  the  sea  and  the  woods 
with  no  certain  prospect  of  sustenance  from  either.  The 
outlook  was  very  gloomy.  The  low,  hot,  unhealthy  beach 
where  they  were  encamped  became  a  place  of  graves  for 
the  Spaniards.  Many  an  ambitious  adventurer  was  laid 
under  the  shadow  of  those  tall  trees  while  they  were  there. 
The  survivors  became  more  and  more  discontented  and 
despondent. 

Cortez  resolved  not  only  to  seek  a  better  situation,  but, 
when  it  was  found,  to  build  a  city  which  Avould  serve  as 
a  base  of  supplies  for  his  army  and  show  the  people  of  the 
country  that  he  had  come  to  stay.  Most  of  his  men  had 
but  one  idea :  they  had  come  to  make  what  money  they 
could  in  a  short  visit,  and  to  go  back  to  Cuba  with  their 
spoils.  Cortez,  who  had  heard  of  the  rich  and  prosper- 
ous tribes  in  the  interior,  believed  he  had  only  to  cross 
the  mountains  rising  behind  the  camp  like  a  wall  to  reach 
a  land  of  fabulous  wealth  and  fertility.  He  determined 
not  to  wait  for  any  invitation  from  Montezuma,  but  to 
push  his  way  to  the  capital,  see  the  famous  chief  in  his 


NEW  SPAIN.  149 

own  palace,  bring  him  into  subjection  to  the  pope  and 
the  king  of  Spain,  convert  the  people  to  the  true  faith, 
settle  the  country,  and,  best  of  all,  turn  into  the  coffers 
of  his  own  land  the  stream  of  gold  which  he  believed 
to  be  flowing  into  those  of  Mexico.  He  saw  that  the 
greatest  difficulty  would  be  to  bring  his  own  army  so  to 
appreciate  the  grandeur  of  such  an  enterprise  as  to  forget 
personal  ambition  in  this  splendid  conquest  for  Church 
and  State.  His  first  step  was  to  send  a  party  northward 
along  the  coast  to  explore  the  country,  and  to  find,  if 
possible,  a  good  harbor  and  a  navigable  river  which 
would  furnish  a  path  into  the  interior.  After  an  absence 
of  three  weeks  his  men  came  back  with  the  report  that, 
although  they  could  find  no  good  harbor,  they  saw  a  spot 
sheltered  by  a  high  rock  where  two  rivers  emptied  into 
the  Gulf.  There  was  plenty  of  fine  timber,  good  stone 
for  building,  pasture  for  cattle  and  tillable  lands.  Cor- 
tez  decided  to  send  his  vessels  up  to  this  point  with  the 
stores,  while  he,  with  four  hundred  men  and  the  horses, 
went  by  laud. 

Before  camp  was  broken  five  Indian  visitors  came  in 
one  morning  who  quite  turned  the  current  of  thought 
for  the  homesick  men  and  made  it  much  easier  for  Cortez 
to  carry  out  his  plans.  In  dress,  manner  and  appearance 
these  Indians  were  quite  different  from  any  the  Spaniards 
had  seen,  although  they  were  red  like  other  Indians,  with 
straight  black  hair.  But  their  faces  were  curiously  deco- 
rated with  gold-leaf,  put  on  in  patches,  and  bright  blue 
stones  and  gold  rings  in  ears  and  nostrils.  Two  of  these 
five  men  understood  enough  of  the  Aztec  language  to  tell 
the  girl  Marina  that  they  were  Totonacs,  of  a  powerful 
tribe  at  Cempoalla,  a  place  twenty-five  miles  distant 
toward  the  north.  Not  long  before  the  arrival  of  the 


150  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

Spaniards  this  tribe  had  been  beaten  in  battle  by  the 
Aztecs,  and  the  heavy  tribute  exacted  from  them  by 
the  victors  was  a  great  grievance.  Their  distress  at 
this  particular  time  was  very  evident.  They  spoke  bit- 
terly of  children  who  had  just  been  claimed  for  sacrifice 
on  Aztec  altars,  and  seemed  veiy  anxious  to  throw  off 
the  intolerable  burdens  which  had  been  laid  upon  them. 
Would  these  powerful  white  men  come  to  their  own 
country  and  become  their  allies  ? 

Nothing  could  have  pleased  the  wily  Spaniard  better 
than  such  a  proposal.  He  had  supposed  that  the  Az- 
tecs were  a  united  people,  and  that  Montezuma,  seated 
on  an  imperial  throne,  had  only  to  lift  his  sceptre  for  an 
obedient  nation  to  prostrate  itself  before  him.  But  here, 
ripe  for  revolt,  was  a  tributary  people  that  he  could  by 
skillful  management  separate  from  Mexico  and  use  as 
the  thin  edge  of  the  wedge  which  would  finally  disrupt 
the  Aztec  empire. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

CEMPOALLA  TO  TLASCALA. 

rPHE  road  to  Cerapoalla  lay  through  luxuriant  groves 
-  of  cocoa  and  palm  trees,  and  then  amid  beautiful 
meadows  alive  with  butterflies  and  birds.  Flowering 
vines  in  a  gay  tangle  clambered  aloft,  festooning  the 
trees  and  loading  the  air  with  palm  and  spicery.  As 
the  Spaniards  passed  they  saw  on  the  face  of  nature  one 
of  those  cruel  blots  of  war — the  blackened  ruins  of  a 
little  hamlet  which  had  just  been  burned.  Cempoalla 
was  only  twelve  miles  from  their  new  campground, 
and  was  a  city  surrounded  by  well-kept  gardens  and 
orchards. 

In  one  of  the  suburban  villages  through  which  they 
passed  the  Spaniards  were  met  by  twenty  of  the  leading 
men  of  Cempoalla,  who  came  bringing  refreshments 
from  their  chief.  Here  the  road  was  lined  with  crowds 
eager  to  see  the  strange  creatures  who  seemed  to  these 
simple  folk  to  have  dropped  among  them  from  the 
moon.  The  men  wore  large  mantles ;  the  women  were 
modestly  dressed  in  long  white  or  parti-colored  cotton 
robes  reaching  from  neck  to  ankle.  They  brought 
wreaths  of  wild  flowers  to  hang  about  the  horses'  necks 
and  to  strew  in  the  path,  as  was  their  custom  when  wel- 
coming home  their  own  braves.  Both  men  and  women 
were  very  much  bejeweled.  Necks  and  noses,  ears,  lips, 

151 


152  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

arms  and  ankles,  had  that  profusion  of  glittering  orna- 
ments which  rude  races  so  much  admire. 

As  the  soldiers  made  their  way  through  the  crowd 
some  horsemen  riding  in  advance  came  dashing  back 
with  news.  They  had  been  near  enough  to  look  within 
the  walls  of  Cempoalla,  and  saw  there  houses  of  bur- 
nished silver  most  dazzling  to  behold.  In  the  glowing 
sunlight  the  white  stucco  of  which  they  were  built  gave 
the  buildings  a  glistening  appearance  which  the  excited 
cavaliers  thought  was  due  to  a  plating  of  some  precious 
metal.  On  a  nearer  view  of  the  place  they  compared  it 
to  Seville,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  cities  of  Spain,  and 
named  it  thus  without  further  delay. 

An  immense  white  building  with  loopholed  towers 
stood  in  the  market-place,  and  in  this  the  army  was 
invited  to  take  up  its  quarters.  Here  the  hospitable 
dames  of  Cempoalla  made  ready  a  good  supper,  which 
they  spread  on  the  floor  for  their  guests.  Clean  mats  for 
bedding  were  brought  in  abundance,  and  with  these  at- 
tentions the  Indians  politely  withdrew,  leaving  their  vis- 
itors to  dispose  of  themselves  for  the  night.  After  set- 
ting a  strong  guard  the  tired  soldiers  lay  down  to  rest 
surrounded  by  what  they  estimated  was  a  population 
of  sixty  thousand  Indians. 

The  next  morning  the  chief  came  to  pay  a  visit  of 
state  to  the  new  comers.  He  was  led  into  the  presence 
of  Cortez,  supported  under  each  arm  by  a  chief  and  fol- 
lowed by  a  company  of  servitors  bringing  rich  presents. 
Cortez  returned  the  visit  in  due  form  the  next  day.  The 
conversation  soon  turned  upon  the  late  political  events  in 
Mexico.  The  chief  complained  bitterly  of  Aztec  oppres- 
sion and  eagerly  sought  an  alliance  with  the  Spaniards. 

Nothing  since  he  left  Cuba  had  given  Cortez  so  much 


154 


ABOUT  MEXICO. 


hope  of  conquering  Mexico  as  this  story  of  a  house  divided 
against  itself.  He  had  modern  experience,  as  well  as 
scriptural  authority,  for  believing  that  in  this  con- 
dition of  things  Montezuma's  power  could  be  over- 
thrown. But  he  was  politic  enough  to  conceal  his  design 
of  conquest  under  the  veil  of  religion.  He  explained  at 
length  and  very  earnestly  that  he  had  come  to  Mexico  on 


a  missionary  errand ;  he  wished  to  set  up  among  the  peo- 
ple the  true  religion  and  to  abolish  human  sacrifice.  On 
his  way  to  Cernpoalla  he  had  passed  a  temple  where 
bloody  human  offerings  had  just  been  made,  and  the 
indignation  of  the  soldiers  over  the  dreadful  sight  thus 
presented  was  still  burning;  and  had  the  general  followed 
their  advice,  it  is  probable  that  these  priestly  butchers  of 
the  tribe  would  never  have  taken  knife  in  hand  again. 

After  enjoying  Cempoallan  hospitality  for  a  few  days 
the  army  took  up  the  line  of  march  to  their  new  encamp- 
ment, near  the  site  of  their  proposed  city.  This  was  on 


CEMPOALLA   TO  TLASCALA.  155 

the  seacoast,  only  twelve  miles  from  Cempoalla  and  in 
the  country  of  the  Totonacs.  The  whole  tribe,  it  ap- 
peared, were  as  ready  as  the  people  of  Cempoalla  to 
throw  off  the  hated  Aztec  yoke.  Strengthened  by  the 
presence  of  their  powerful  visitors,  they  refused  to  pay 
the  taxes  then  due.  Still  further  to  curry  favor  with  the 
Spaniards,  they  went  vigorously  to  work  to  help  build 
the  new  town.  Stone,  lime  and  timber  were  to  be  brought 
to  its  site,  and  hands  were  needed  to  rear  the  walls  of  what 
must  have  been,  when  the  cannon  were  mounted,  an  al- 
most impregnable  fortress. 

Meanwhile,  Teuthile's  late  despatches  had  made  a 
great  stir  in  the  City  of  Mexico.  Every  movement  in 
the  Spanish  camp  had  been  stealthily  noted  long  after 
Indians  had  been  ordered  to  leave  the  neighborhood. 
Reporters  lurking  in  the  woods  had  pictured  the  fast-in- 
creasing graves  on  the  beach,  the  vessels  departing  for  the 
north  with  part  of  the  forces,  and,  what  was  most  of  all 
to  be  dreaded,  that  visit  from  their  enemies  the  fierce 
Totonacs.  All  this,  with  the  march  along  the  shore 
toward  the  Totonaean  capital,  had  been  pictured  faith- 
fully and  sent  by  express  to  Mexico.  How  to  break 
this  league  between  their  tributaiy  tribe  and  the  Span- 
iards was  the  question  brought  before  the  perplexed 
council.  Supposing  that,  like  Indians,  these  people 
from  over  the  sea  would  be  satisfied  with  tribute  and 
would  go  away  to  leave  them  to  manage  their  own 
affairs,  they  resolved  to  try  what  effect  gold  and  other 
costly  presents  would  have  upon  them.  Two  of  Monte- 
zuma's  nephews,  with  a  brilliant  array  of  other  chiefs,  now 
set  out  for  the  camp  to  spread  before  Cortez  another 
magnificent  presentation  of  gifts. 

About  the  same  time  all  Cempoalla  was  thrown  into 


156  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

a  flutter  of  excitement  by  a  demand  from  the  council  of 
Mexico  for  twenty  young  men  and  maidens  to  be  sacri- 
ficed on  the  high  altar  there;  this  was  intended  as  a  pun- 
ishment for  daring  to  entertain  the  strangers  without  per- 
mission. Cortez  saw  his  opportunity  ;  he  ordered  his 
new  allies  •  to  seize  these  messengers  and  put  them  in 
prison.  The  poor  Cempoallans  shrank  in  terror,  not 
daring  to  offer  such  an  affront  to  their  haughty  Aztec 
masters.  On  the  other  hand  were  these  mysterious 
strangers,  who  might  crush  them  while  professing  to 
shield  them  from  their  oppressors.  But  Cortez  was 
firm.  Would  they  break  with  their  Aztec  masters  or 
with  him  ?  Of  the  two  evils,  the  puzzled  Cempoallans 
chose  what  seemed  to  be  the  least :  they  resolved  to 
throw  themselves  on  the  mercy  of  a  Spanish  rather 
than  a  Mexican  conqueror,  and  the  surprised  tax-col- 
lectors were  soon  thrust  behind  prison-bars.  But  they 
did  not  gnash  their  teeth  with  rage  there  very  long,  for 
Cortez,  unknown  to  his  allies,  contrived  to  set  them  free 
that  night,  got  them  on  board  of  one  of  his  ships,  and 
took  them  to  a  point  where  they  could  land  with  safety 
and  speed  back  to  Mexico  to  tell  their  story  to  the  coun- 
cil, while,  at  the  same  time,  he  made  a  bid  for  Aztec 
friendship  by  thus  delivering  them. 

While  the  Totonacs  were  thus  dependent  on  Cortez  to 
shield  them  from  Aztec  vengeance,  Cortez  determined  to 
bring  them  into  the  true  Church ;  he  therefore  took  an 
opportunity  to  pay  them  a  religious  visit.  He  first  tried 
by  smooth  words  to  persuade  them  to  give  up  their  idols. 
Finding  that  these  would  not  avail,  he  impatiently  ordered 
fifty  of  his  men  to  mount  the  steps  of  the  temple  and 
demolish  the  idols  with  their  pikes.  The  angry  chief 
stormed  and  threatened  that  if  this  order  was  carried 


CEMPOALLA   TO  TLASCALA.  157 

out  it  would  call  down  on  their  heads  the  vengeance  of 
every  god  in  Mexico.  But  Cortez  coolly  reminded  him 
that  the  Aztecs  would  be  glad  to  become  allies  of  the 
Spaniards,  and  that  if  the  Totonacs  were  not  very  civil 
to  him  he  would  leave  them  to  settle  the  old  score  with 
their  former  masters  without  any  help  from  him.  This 
threat  silenced  the  poor  chief,  but  the  people  were  furious. 
The  priests  called  loudly  on  them  to  arise  and  defend 
their  gods.  They  ran  about  in  the  crowd  with  wildly- 
streaming  hair,  beating  their  breasts  in  rage  and  despair. 
As  usual,  Cortez  improved  this  circumstance.  He  now 
ordered  his  men  to  seize  the  chief  and  the  leading  priests, 
and,  taking  them  apart,  he  gave  them  to  understand  that 
if  they  did  not  quiet  the  mob  the  city  would  soon  be  too 
hot  to  hold  them.  In  order  to  save  their  own  lives,  they 
were  thus  obliged  to  check  the  excited  multitude,  and 
actually  to  aid  the  soldiers  to  pile  up  the  wooden  gods, 
with  all  their  finery,  and  to  burn  them  in  the  public 
square.  With  what  groans  and  lamentations  this  was 
done  can  better  be  imagined  than  described.  The  sol- 
diers next  took  the  temple  in  hand.  Walls  and  floor, 
foul  from  disgusting  worship,  were  soon  cleansed  and 
some  bright  new  images  set  up  in  the  empty  shrine. 
Father  Olmedo  then  gave  the  people  a  lesson  in  the 
worship  due  the  idols  of  Rome  just  introduced  to  them ; 
he  ordered  the  priests  to  take  off  their  black  tunics  and 
put  on  white,  and,  with  candles  in  their  hands,  to  join  in 
the  solemn  procession  which  wound  up  the  temple-stairs, 
never  again  to  echo  the  footsteps  of  those  who  carried  up 
human  victims  to  die  on  that  high  altar.  One  thing  at 
least  was  effected :  the  natives  saw  that  the  gods  before 
whom  they  had  trembled  were  unable  to  punish  those  who 
had  thus  insulted  them,  or  to  defend  their  worshipers. 


158  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

While  this  work  of  converting  the  natives  was  going 
on,  the  revenue-officers,  who  had  found  their  way  back  to 
Mexico  after  their  escape  from  imprisonment  in  Cempo- 
alla,  had  created  quite  a  change  in  public  sentiment  by 
their  report  to  Montezuma  and  his  council.  After  all, 
the  strangers  were  their  friends,  and  the  "  water-houses," 
as  they  called  the  ships,  were  blessings  in  disguise.  Full 
of  gratitude  and  admiration,  they  were  now  sent  back  tos 
their  deliverers  loaded  with  presents.  The  poor  Totonacs, 
unable  to  understand  this  situation,  were  more  than  ever 
convinced  that  Cortez  was  not  a  human  being,  but  the 
Fair  God  himself,  and  that  he  who  could  so  trans- 
form the  Aztecs  was  the  only  one  who  could  protect 
them. 

On  the  16th  of  August,  Cortez  began  his  march  toward 
Mexico.  He  had  with  him  five  hundred  of  his  own 
countrymen,  fifteen  horses  and  six  field-pieces,  with 
several  of  the  principal  men  of  Cempoalla  as  hostages 
for  the  good  behavior  of  the  city  in  his  absence.  With 
the  gifts  from  Mexico,  many  baggage-porters  were  needed, 
and  these  were  furnished  by  the  Totonacan  allies.  The  rest 
of  the  army  were  left  as  a  garrison  in  the  new  town,  then 
little  more  than  a  fortress.  One  of  the  soldiers,  an  old 
and  devout  man,  was  charged  with  the  duty  of  training 
the  people  in  the  religion  they  had  so  unwillingly  adopted. 
Part  of  his  business  was  to  teach  them  how  to  make  wax 
candles.  The  woods  in  the  neighborhood  of  Cempoalla 
were  rich  in  wild  fruits  and  berries,  one  species  of  the 
latter  furnishing  wax  in  large  quantities.  Out  of  this 
tapers  were  made,  to  burn  before  the  Virgin  and  Child. 
The  industrious  natives  were  quite  pleased  with  this  new 
employment,  and  worked  diligently  to  provide  the  tem- 
ple with  lights  far  exceeding  in  brilliancy  and  steadiness 


CEMPOALLA   TO  TLASCALA.  Io9 

those  of  the  fireflies  with  which  they  lighted  their  own 
houses.  The  new  camp  was  now  a  regularly-organized 
colony  of  Spain.  Cortez  was  chosen  mayor,  with  his  par- 
ticular friends  as  subordinates — a  precaution  very  neces- 
sary among  these  restless  adventurers.  The  name  of  the 
city  was  very  long  and  very  religious,  according  to  the 
fashion  of  the  times.  It  was  Villa  Rica  de  la  Vera 
Cruz— u  the  Rich  City  of  the  True  Cross." 

Past  experience  had  taught  Cortez  that  either  great 
difficulties  or  a  life  of  idleness  would  make  his  men 
homesick.  He  saw  that  hardship  and  delay  were  in- 
evitable, and  feared  that  the  sight  of  ships  riding  at 
anchor,  ready  to  carry  them  back  to  Cuba,  would  be  a 
temptation  to  them  to  desert ;  he  therefore  determined  to 
cut  off  this  opportunity  by  sinking  all  these  vessels  before 
he  left  the  coast.  He  induced  those  who  inspected  the 
vessels  to  pronounce  them  worm-eaten  and  unseaworthy. 
The  sails,  the  iron  and  the  cordage  were  carefully  taken 
out  of  them,  and  then  a  hole  cut  in  the  bottom  of  each 
ship  sent  it  to  the  bottom,  where  no  deserter  could 
reach  it. 

The  chief  of  Cempoalla  sent  his  ally  abundance  of 
provisions  for  the  journey,  with  two  hundred  porters  and 
four  hundred  warriors.  It  was  the  rainy  season,  and  all 
nature  was  rioting  in  a  luxuriance  of  growth  known  only 
in  this  high  tide  of  a  tropical  year.  Field  and  forest  were 
teeming  with  life.  Where  the  latter  was  threaded  by 
footpaths  a  tangled  undergrowth  disputed  every  inch  of 
a  way  which  was  never  wide  enough  for  two  travelers  to 
walk  abreast.  Passing  from  these  forests  into  the  culti- 
vated fields  which  surrounded  every  hamlet,  the  eye  was 
gladdened  by  corn  of  such  magnificent  growth  as  com- 
pletely to  overtop  the  low-roofed  houses  in  which  most 


160  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

of  the  people  of  the  lowlands  lived.  The  banana,  the 
plaintaiu,  manioc,  cocoa,  vanilla  and  other  tropical  fruits 
made  this  a  home  of  plenty.  The  white- walled  villages 
nestling  in  these  fertile  plains  were  often  unseen  by  the 
traveler  until  he  could  look  down  upon  them  from  some 
breezy  terrace  on  the  mountains. 

The  road  took  the  army  over  some  of  the  wildest 
passes.  The  steep  side  up  which  they  clambered  was 
here  and  there  cleft  by  deep  fissures ;  these  often  formed 
the  bed  of  a  torrent  hurrying  onward  to  the  Gulf.  Where 
the  path  crossed  these  ravines  a  log  or  a  leaning  tree 
bridged  the  yawning  chasm,  or  a  single  arch  spanned 
it  at  some  dizzy  height.  Up,  up,  up  these  frightful 
steeps  the  long  lines  of  men  and  horses  wound,  often 
in  paths  wide  enough  for  only  a  single  passenger.  From 
different  points  upon  the  way  their  eyes  took  in  some  of 
the  grandest  landscapes  in  the  world.  Sunny  plains 
stretched  far  below,  sloping  gently  toward  the  Gulf. 
Here  and  there  the  white  walls  and  the  towers  of  some 
pueblo  gleamed  through  the  deep  green  of  surrounding 
orchards  or  crowned  a  hilltop,  ft  is  not  probable  that 
the  country  was  densely  populated.  There  were  no  scat- 
tered farmhouses,  the  home  of  a  single  family,  as  with  us, 
but  hamlets  where  a  number  gathered  for  mutual  pro- 
tection. 

Beyond  this  lookout  place  the  army  passed  into  a  re- 
gion of  intense  cold — that  frigid  zone  which  enwraps  the 
world  everywhere,  if  one  only  climbs  skyward  far  enough 
to  find  it.  Here  the  vapors  from  the  Gulf,  wafted  west- 
ward against  the  frozen  mountains,  were  condensed,  and 
fell  in  a  pitiless  storm  of  sleet  in  which  the  troops  perished. 
The  thick  garments  of  quilted  cotton  with  which  many  had 
provided  themselves  at  Trinidad  were  as  great  a  protection 


CEMPOALLA  TO  TLASCALA.  161 

against  the  icy  blast  as  against  the  Mexican  arrows  which 
they  were  intended  to  ward  off,  but  the  poor  half-clad 
Cuban  porters  died  by  scores  along  the  way.  The  sol- 
diers, benumbed  with  cold  and  suffering  with  hunger  and 
thirst,  were  three  days  dragging  their  heavy  cannon  over 
these  mountains. 

After  leaving  this  dreary  region  the  Spaniards  came  to 
a  high  valley  on  the  mountain-side,  where  they  found 
houses  of  hewn  stone  larger  and  better  built  than  any 
they  had  yet  seen  in  the  country.  Elegantly  furnished 
apartments  were  put  at  their  disposal  by  a  chief  whom 
Cortez  styles  "  lord  of  the  valley."  When  this  man  was 
asked  if  he  was  a  subject  of  Montezuma,  he  drew  him- 
self up  proudly  and  asked,  "Who  is  not  a  subject  of 
Montezuma  ?"  as  though  he  would  say,  "  Is  he  not  master 
of  the  world  ?"  Cortez  insisted  that  His  Lordship  should 
do  homage  to  the  king  of  Spain,  demanding  some  gold 
as  a  token  of  his  obedience. 

This  ceremony  was  easily  understood  by  the  Aztec. 
He  consented  to  send  to  Montezuma  this  challenge  from 
the  white  man,  adding, 

"  If  Moutezuma  commands  me  to  do  so,  I  will  give 
you  not  gold  only,  but  myself  and  all  that  I  possess." 

THE  TLASCALANS. 

Next  to  the  Aztecs,  no  tribe  makes  such  a  figure  in 
Mexican  history  as  the  Tlascalans,  a  race  of  bold  and 
hardy  mountaineers  who  inhabited  elevated  valleys  be- 
tween Mexico  and  the  Gulf.  Cortez  had  taken  a  road 
which  led  him  near  this  region.  He  was  advised  by  the 
Totonacs  to  secure  the  good-will  of  this  tribe,  and,  if 
possible,  to  enter  into  league  with  it.  For  generations 
it  had  been  at  war  with  the  Aztecs,  and  never  once  had 
11 


162  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

it  been  forced  to  pay  tribute  to  its  proud  neighbors  around 
Lake  Tezcuco,  although  it  had  been  completely  hemmed 
in  by  them,  so  that  Tlascala  had  become  a  little  world 
by  itself,  without  a  single  gate  through  which  it  dared 
to  procure  the  products  of  the  Mexican  valley. 

Cortez,  who  had  ventured  into  the  interior  with  but  a 
handful  of  his  own  men,  could  not  leave  such  a  nest  of 
warriors  between  him  and  his  base  of  supplies  on  the 
coast.  On  the  other  hand,  they  might  be  made  allies 
in  case  of  war  with  the  Aztecs.  A  visit  to  Tlascala  was 
therefore  resolved  upon. 

In  the  march  to  Tlascala  the  army  came  to  a  high 
battlemented  wall  twenty  feet  thick,  nine  feet  high  and 
six  miles  long,  which,  reaching  from  one  mountain  to 
another,  defended  one  of  the  approaches  to  that  country. 
This  frontier  wall  was  semicircular  in  one  place  and  over- 
lapped itself,  making  an  indirect  and  easily-defended  en- 
trance. The  stones  of  which  this  fortification  was  formed 
were  so  firmly  cemented  together  that  years  afterward, 
Avhen  the  Spaniards  wished  to  level  it  to  the  ground — as 
they  did  everything  that  could  keep  alive  a  spark  of 
national  pride  among  the  natives — it  was  found  almost 
impossible  to  pry  them  asunder ;  so  that  the  remains  of 
these  celebrated  walls  are  to  be  seen  to-day. 

When  the  Spanish  army  marched  to  Tlascala,  in  Aug- 
ust, 1519,  this  wall  had  not  a  single  defender.  A  little 
way  farther  on  the  other  side  some  Indians  showed  them- 
selves, and  fled  without  any  notice  of  the  signals  of  peace 
which  Cortez  caused  to  be  made.  As  it  afterward  proved, 
these  were  scouts  of  a  force  of  a  thousand  men,  who 
came  with  loud  cries  of  defiance  and  brandishing  their 
weapons.  They  soon  fled,  and  the  Spaniards  followed, 
supposing  that  these,  like  the  other  Indians,  were  terri- 


CEMPOALLA   TO  TLASCALA.  163 

fied  with  the  guns  and  the  horses.  This  was  their  first 
experience  with  a  Mexican  ambuscade.  They  soon  found 
themselves  in  a  deep  and  narrow  valley,  surrounded  by 
a  surging  mass  of  warriors,  many  of  them  clad  in  little 
more  than  paint  and  feathers,  and  all  yelling  as  only 
savages  can  yell. 

Cortez,  with  forty  archers,  thirteen  horsemen  and  six 
cannon,  pressed  through  this  raging  sea  of  enemies  till 
he  reached  an  open  plain,  where  he  made  a  stand  and 
fought  all  day.  Much  injury  was  done  to  the  savages, 
but  the  Spaniards  did  not  lose  a  man.  This  would  seem 
incredible  but  for  the  fact  that  in  all  their  warfare  these 
people  risked  everything  in  order  to  secure  prisoners  for 
sacrifice  and  to  carry  off  their  own  slain  and  wounded 
from  the  battlefield.  A  dozen  men  would  thus  throw 
away  their  own  lives  in  order  to  gain  a  single  captive, 
and  by  the  time  those  who  thus  fell  were  rescued  it  is 
easy  to  see  that  many  more  lives  were  forfeited. 

In  one  of  these  Tlascalan  battles  two  of  the  horses 
were  killed.  This  fact  was  carefully  concealed  from  the 
enemy,  who,  until  they  saw  one  of  these  creatures  dead, 
supposed  they  were  immortal  like  the  gods.  After  their 
discovery  of  the  truth  one  of  these  animals  was  cut  up, 
and  the  pieces  were  sent  to  all  the  Tlascalans  as  an  inspir- 
iting summons  to  come  out  and  conquer  their  common 
foe. 

The  next  day,  having  received  reinforcements  from 
his  camp,  Cortez  sallied  forth  at  daybreak  to  make  an 
attack  on  the  neighboring  villages,  five  or  six  of  which 
he  burned,  took  four  hundred  prisoners,  men  and  women, 
and  fought  his  way  back  to  his  camp  without  loss. 

An  after-breakfast  battle  that  same  day  was  still  more 
remarkable  as  described  in  Spanish  history.  An  immense 


ABOUT  MEXICO. 

army  of  Indians — estimated  at  one  hundred  and  forty- 
nine  thousand — attacked  the  temple  where  the  Spaniards 
were  entrenched,  forced  an  entrance  and  had  a  hand-to- 
hand  fight  with  the  white  men.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
the  Spaniards  would  have  been  beaten  had  not  the  Tlas- 
calan  leaders  disagreed  among  themselves.  Seven  days 
of  such  hard  fighting  was  necessary  to  subdue  the  Tlas- 
calans. 

After  the  retreat  of  the  natives  they  sent  fifty  of  their 
braves  with  white  badges  to  carry  provisions  to  the 
Spanish  camp  in  token  of  submission.  It  was  noticed 
that  these  messengers  were  looking  carefully  about  them, 
as  if  they  were  examining  the  defences  of  the  place. 
The  Cempoallans,  understanding  Indian  tactics,  warned 
Cortez,  for  they  were  sure  these  men  were  spies.  A 
close  cross-examination  followed.  One  after  another 
confessed  at  last  that  this  visit  to  the  camp  was  only  part 
of  a  plot  to  surprise  the  Spaniards  that  night.  One  of 
their  priests  had  said  that  in  no  other  way  could  they  get 
rid  of  these  white  men.  They  were,  no  doubt,  children 
of  the  sun,  and  could  be  reached  only  when  he  had  with- 
drawn his  beams.  The  whole  party  had  their  hands  cut 
off,  and,  thus  cruelly  maimed,  they  were  sent  back  to 
Tlascala  with  the  message  that  by  night  or  by  day, 
whenever  they  came,  they  would  find  the  Spaniards 
ready  to  give  them  battle. 

This  punishment — so  much  worse  than  death  to  the 
Tlascalan  warrior — struck  terror  into  all  hearts.  Long 
before  the  bleeding  stumps  could  be  shown  to  the  council 
of  Tlascala,  Cortez  was  out  upon  another  raid  among  the 
Indian  villages.  Supposing  their  plot  would  be  success- 
ful, the  warriors  were  hiding  in  the  woods  and  thickets 
around  the  camp,  and  as  soon  as  it  \vas  dark  they  began 


CEMPOALLA   TO  TLASCALA.  165 

to  gather  about  it  in  crowds.  The  Spaniards  sallied  forth 
and  so  completely  surprised  them  that  they  all  fled.  After 
a  little  rest  the  Spaniards  again  began  their  work  of  de- 
vastation, attacking  every  town  around  the  hill  on  which 
they  were  encamped.  In  view  of  his  success  in  this 
cowardly  warfare,  Cortez  congratulated  himself  that 
God  had  interfered  in  his  behalf,  enabling  him  to 
destroy  ten  towns  and  many  people. 

During  the  hottest  part  of  this  week  of  battles  in 
Tlascala  another  party  of  Aztecs  came  to  the  Spanish 
camp  to  make  a  formal  offer  of  obedience  to  the  great 
chief  in  Spain.  It  was  not  their  intention  to  give  up 
their  customs,  their  government  or  their  religion ;  that 
would  mean  the  death  of  their  tribe.  The  council  had 
empowered  them  to  make  arrangements  with  Cortez  as 
to  the  amount  and  the  kind  of  tribute  they  should  give. 
This  point  settled,  they  expected  the  satisfied  strangers 
to  leave  them  in  peace. 

The  desire  which  Cortez  continued  to  express  to  visit 
the  country  of  the  envoys  perplexed  them.  Friends 
with  the  white  man  they  could  not  be,  but  they  would 
give  of  their  treasures  to  avoid  fighting.  If  they  failed 
to  keep  their  promise,  then  would  it  not  be  time  enough 
to  come  with  an  army  to  punish  them  ?  Montezuma's 
message  was  very  plain.  "Our  country  is  barren  and 
poor,"  he  said.  "  You  will  have  to  climb  rugged  moun- 
tains and  brave  many  dangers  in  order  to  visit  us.  Do 
not  come." 

These  messengers  remained  in  the  Spanish  camp  dur- 
ing a  great  part  of  the  struggle  with  the  Tlascalans  and 
saw  what  these  white  men  were  capable  of  doing,  and 
used  their  utmost  endeavors  to  hinder  the  friendship 
which  afterward  sprang  up  between  them  and  the  Tlas- 


IG6 


ABOUT  MEXICO. 


calans.     This  want  of  harmony  among  the  tribes  suited 

Cortez  exactly. 

But,  with  all  this  success,  the  Spaniards  felt  themselves 
to  be  in  a  desperate  situation.  Many 
of  the  men  were  ready  to  mutiny  and 
leave  Cortez  to  his  fate.  They  were 
far  from  home,  in  the  heart  of  an  ene- 
my's country  ;  and  should  they  succeed 
in  fighting  their  way  back  to  their 
base  of  supplies  at  Villa  Rica,  they 
had  no  vessels  to  take  them  back  to 
their  own  country  in  case  the  garrison 
had  been  overpowered  by  their  treach- 
erous neighbors,  or,  what  was  quite  as 
possible,  had  given  up  because  so  weary 
of  the  ambitious  schemes  of  their 
leader,  whom  many  of  them  con- 
sidered little  better  than  a  madman. 
But  for  a  timely  visit  from  the  Tlas- 
calan  chief  Xicotencatl,  it  is  likely  that 
Cortez  might  soon  have  found  himself 
without  an  army.  This  young  man 
came  one  morning  in  a  cloud  of  in- 
cense, touching  the  ground  and  lift- 
ing his  hand  to  his  head.  It  was 
easy  to  see  that  his  proud  spirit  was 
still  unbroken,  although  he  acknowl- 
edged that  his  people  for  the  first 
time  submitted  to  a  foe.  From  fear 
of  treachery,  the  invitation  he  brought 
to  the  Spaniards  to  visit  Tlascala  was 
not  accepted  for  a  week.  Other  chiefs 

row  came  to  the  camp,  and  their  overtures  seemed  so 


CUERNAVACAC 


CHILPANCINGOC 


CEMPOALLA   TO  TLASCALA.  167 

sincere  that  the  army  finally  took  the  line  of  march  for 
Tlascala. 

This  city  was  eighteen  miles  distant  from  the  camp  at 
Tzompach.  The  country  abounded  with  high,  level  val- 
leys, which  at  this  time  were  fertile  and  well  cultivated. 
As  the  Spaniards  approached  the  city  they  noted  with 
pleasure  and  admiration  the  beautiful  white  houses  among 
the  trees,  the  well-tilled  land,  the  luxuriant  harvests  and 
the  signs  of  thrift  everywhere.  It  is  said  that  the  city 
of  Tlascala  had  a  market  where  thirty  thousand  people 
bought  and  sold  every  day.  It  was  well  supplied  with 
meat,  fish,  fruits  and  vegetables,  and  bath-houses  and  bar- 
ber-shops and  a  well-regulated  police-force  were  found 
there. 

The  blind  old  chief,  Xicotencatl  the  elder,  anxious  to 
know  what  the  white  man  was  like,  felt  the  face  of  Cor- 
tez  and  fingered  his  beard  and  his  armor,  finally  accept- 
ing him  as  a  friend.  Soon  after  this  the  poor  old  man 
embraced  the  Christian  faith,  in  token  of  which  a  great 
cross  was  erected  by  his  orders  in  the  market-place  of 
Tlascala.  Scenes  similar  to  those  at  Cempoalla  would 
have  been  enacted  here  but  for  the  protestations  of 
Father  Olmedo,  who  succeeded — in  this  instance,  at  least 
— in  persuading  Cortez  to  use  sermons  rather  than  swords 
in  converting  the  people. 

It  was  in  Tlascala  that  Cortez  first  heard  of  the  long- 
cherished  hope  of  Feathered  Serpent's  return.  These 
hunted  and  oppressed  people  were  waiting  for  deliverance 
when  the  white  men  came,  but,  not  being  prepared  as  the 
Aztecs  were,  their  sudden  appearance  on  their  frontier 
roused  all  the  warlike  instincts  of  the  tribe. 

The  question  of  the  white  man's  might  once  settled, 
the  Tlascalans  at  once  acknowledged  his  right  to  rule 


168 


ABOUT  MEXICO. 


over  them,  and  from  that  time  Cortez  was  very  generally 
accepted  as  one  who  had  come  in  fulfillment  of  prophecy. 
The  democratic  form  of  government  universal  through- 
out Mexico  was  so  evident  here  that  Tlascala  was  never 
called  anything  but  a  republic. 


MEXICAN    BASKET-SELLERS. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
HO  FOR  THE  CAPITAL! 

THE  Aztec  chiefs  who  visited  Tlascala  were  very 
anxious  that  Cortez  should  take  Cholula  on  his 
way  to  visit  Montezuma,  if  the  Aztec  council  should 
consent  that  he  might  come  to  Mexico  at  all.  They  had 
hoped  that  the  Totonacs  and  their  Spanish  allies  would 
quarrel  by  the  way,  that  the  army  would  perish  with 
hunger  and  cold  as  they  crossed  the  bleak  mountain- 
walls  of  their  valley,  or,  should  they  survive  these  perils, 
that  the  Tlascalans  would  entrap  and  crush  them  in  some 
of  their  deep  valleys.  But  all  these  hopes  had  proved 
vain.  Montezuma  and  his  council  were  quaking  with 
fear  over  the  latest  despatches  from  their  envoys.  The 
pictures  they  drew  of  sleeping  villages  attacked  by  a 
ruthless  foe,  of  murder  and  pillage  and  fire,  were  only 
too  familiar  work  with  all  Aztec  reporters,  but  these 
white  men  had  clothed  war  with  new  terrors.  March- 
ing in  triumph  from  tribe  to  tribe,  laying  the  thousands 
of  Tobasco  under  tribute,  they  had  won  allies  in  Cem- 
poalla  without  a  blow.  Now  even  Tlascalan  braves, 
after  their  proud  ranks  had  been  beaten  down  like  grass 
in  a  hailstorm,  were  bowing  under  a  yoke  which  all  the 
armies  of  the  confederacy  had  not  been  able  to  fasten 
upon  them.  Were  they  gods,  or  were  they  men  like 
themselves?  The  wisest  of  their  priests  now  declared 

169 


170  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

that  it  was  the  will  of  the  gods  that  the  white  strangers 
should  find  their  graves  in  Cholula;  to  Cholula,  then, 
they  must  be  enticed  with  a  hint  that  the  long-delayed 
invitation  from  the  "chief-of-men"  to  visit  Mexico  might 
await  them  there. 

Cholula,  eighteen  miles  from  Tlascala,  was  one  of  the 
sacred  places  of  Mexico.  It  was  the  home  of  a  rich  and 
powerful  tribe  of  merchants  who  had  but  lately  broken 
friendship  with  the  Tlascalans  to  become  the  allies  of  the 
Aztecs.  Cortez  resolved  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  city,  and 
fixed  a  day.  This  news  caused  great  anxiety  among  the 
Tlascalans.  It  was  very  plainly  their  duty  to  accompany 
their  allies  to  Mexico ;  it  was  quite  as  plain  to  them  that 
the  most  dangerous  road  there  would  be  that  which  should 
take  them  through  Cholula. 

"Do  you  not  see,"  said  the  wary  old  Tlascalans  to 
Cortez,  "  that  no  Cholulan  chief  has  been  to  visit  you, 
though  the  city  is  only  eighteen  miles  away  ?  Other 
tribes,  which  live  much  farther  off,  have  sent  their  best 
men  to  seek  your  friendship ;  why  have  the  Cholulans 
been  so  indifferent?" 

With  thanks  for  this  warning,  Cortez  asked  that  mes- 
sengers be  sent  to  the  Cholulan  council  to  demand  an 
explanation.  The  very  cool  answer  which  came  to  this 
demand  provoked  the  general  to  send  them  at  once  a 
formal  summons  to  come  immediately  and  submit  to  him 
as  the  representative  of  the  king  of  Spain,  "  the  lord  of  the 
whole  earth."  If  they  refused,  he  said,  he  would  march 
against  them  and  destroy  them  as  rebels.  This  arrogant 
message  had  its  effect.  The  next  day  the  Cholulan 
chiefs  walked  over  to  the  camp  to  apologize  for  their 
neglect.  To  make  the  scene  more  impressive  to  these 
new  visitors,  Cortez  had  their,  speech  recorded  by  a  notary 


HO  FOR  THE  CAPITAL!  171 

and  required  them  all  to  sign  it  as  a  fair  statement  of 
facts. 

"  Now,"  said  he,  "  I  am  going  back  with  you  to  Cho- 
lula,  to  see  for  myself  if  you  have  spoken  the  truth." 

The  Tlascalans  again  cautioned  Cortez  not  to  venture 
too  far.  No  tribe  in  Mexico  was  more  noted  for  cunning 
than  were  the  Cholulans.  Finding  that  he  was  bent  on 
going,  the  whole  native  army  offered  to  accompany  him. 
Cortez  allowed  the  Tlascalans  to  attend  him  until  he  was 
within  six:  miles  of  Cholula,  when  he  persuaded  all  but 
six  thousand  men  to  return  until  he  was  ready  to  go  on 
to  Mexico.  He  said  that  he  was  afraid  the  entrance  of 
so  large  a  body  of  armed  Tlascalans  would  throw  the 
city  into  a  commotion. 

The  army  of  Cortez  encamped  for  the  night  on  the 
banks  of  a  small  stream ;  the  next  morning,  in  great 
numbers,  the  citizens  poured  out  of  Cholula  to  greet  the 
strangers.  The  Cholulans  were  by  far  the  best-dressed 
people  the  Spaniards  had  yet  seen.  The  chiefs  wore 
cloaks  over  their  mantles ;  these  were  elegantly  woven 
and  embroidered,  and  were  generally  provided  with 
pockets.  Hundreds  of  priests  in  long  black  dresses 
and  with  flowing  hair  mingled  with  the  crowd,  chanting 
solemn  temple-hymns  and  swinging  fragrant  censers  as 
they  walked.  The  women  wore  flowers  in  their  dark 
hair,  and  came  laden  with  wreaths  to  deck  the  horses, 
which  here,  as  everywhere,  created  a  fever  of  excite- 
ment. 

The  city  of  Cholula  was  situated  in  a  beautiful  and 
highly-cultivated  plain,  well  wooded  and  watered  by 
artificial  canals.  It  was  venerable  with  age.  Its  early 
records  were  probably  lost  when  Mexican  libraries  were 
burned  by  order  of  the  conquerors.  Tradition  said  that  it 


172  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

had  been  the  home  of  Feathered  Serpent  ages  before.  An 
elegant  temple  in  his  honor  crowned  the  great  pyramid 
which'  the  Aztecs  and  kindred  tribes  found  there  when 
they  entered  the  valley.  It  was  now  a  great  resort  for 
pilgrims,  who  came  in  multitudes  to  worship  at  this 
ancient  shrine. 

The  spirit  of  Feathered  Serpent  had,  however,  long 
ago  died  out  of  his  worship.  Here,  where  he  had  been 
best  known  and  loved,  his  altars  reeked  with  human 
blood.  It  is  said  that  six  thousand  victims  were  yearly 
slaughtered  in  this  city  alone. 

The  wide,  clean  streets  and  massive  houses  were  noted 
with  great  admiration  by  the  army,  who  now  entered  the 
city.  It  contained  about  twenty  thousand  houses,  and, 
as  we  have  seen,  these  were  always  occupied  by  many 
related  families.  The  population  was  probably  about 
two  hundred  thousand. 

A  large  temple  with  its  surrounding  courtyard  was 
given  to  Cortez  for  the  accommodation  of  his  men,  who, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Tlascalans,  were  all  quartered 
within  the  city  walls.  Provisions  were  sent  to  them, 
"  although  not  in  a  bountiful  manner,"  as  Cortez  com- 
plained. Every  day  the  fare  provided  for  the  army 
grew  worse.  The  Cholulans  explained  that  corn  was 
scarce,  but  those  who  looked  out  on  the  waving  fields 
around  them  concluded  that  this  was  an  excuse  unworthy 
of  so  wealthy  a  people.  It  was  noted,  also,  that  the  chiefs 
paid  very  few  visits  to  the  Spanish  quarters.  Their  guests 
soon  began  to  compare  notes  among  themselves.  Some 
had  observed  the  loaded  house-roofs  here  and  there, 
where  piles  of  stone  could  be  hidden  behind  parapets  or 
among  the  flowering  plants  with  which  they  were  often 
adorned.  The  watchful  Totonacs,  who  had  the  liberty 


174  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

of  the  city,  noted,  as  they  strolled  about,  signs  of  pitfalls 
familiar  to  an  Indian's  eye.  The  Tlascalans  very  natu- 
rally said,  "  Did  we  not  tell  you  so  ?"  It  was  Marina, 
however,  who  actually  discovered  the  plot  which  many 
had  suspected.  She  had  found  a  friend  among  the 
women  of  Cholula,  a  chieftain's  wife,  who  in  her  anx- 
iety for  Marina's  safety  warned  her  to  leave  the  camp 
and  take  refuge  with  her.  She  hinted  that  the  Aztecs 
were  at  hand,  waiting  to  join  the  Cholulans  in  a  mas- 
sacre of  the  Spaniards  and  their  allies,  and  that  wronien, 
children  and  valuables  were  about  to  be  sent  out  of  the 
city. 

Hearing  this  confirmation  of  his  own  fears,  Cortez 
requested  a  meeting  of  the  city  council.  He  told  them 
that  he  saw  he  had  become  a  burden  to  them  and  that 
he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  leave  Cholula  for  Mexico 
the  next  day,  and  asked  that  they  would  furnish  him 
with  two  thousand  men  to  transport  his  artillery  and 
baggage.  After  some  consultation  among  themselves 
this  request  was  granted.  Cortez  next  sought  an  inter- 
view with  the  Aztec  embassy  and  told  them  of  the  plot 
he  had  discovered,  charging  Montezuma  with  it.  They 
feigned  great  surprise  and  declared  that  neither  their 
chief  nor  the  council  knew  anything  about  it ;  the  fault 
lay  entirely  with  the  Cholulans.  Cortez,  although  satis- 
fied that  they  were  deceiving  him,  affected  to  believe  the 
Aztecs.  At  the  same  time,  he  kept  them  apart  from  the 
people  of  the  city,  lest  his  plan  to  take  vengeance  upon 
the  latter  should  fail  of  execution. 

That  was  a  sleepless  night  for  the  Spanish  general ;  his 
little  army  seemed  to  be  standing  over  a  magazine.  They 
were  in  the  heart  of  an  enemy's  country  and  surrounded 
by  friends  quite  as  capable  of  treachery  as  were  the  foes 


HO  FOB  THE  CAPITAL!  175 

he  dreaded.  There  were  also  many  among  his  own  men 
who  had  no  sympathy  with  his  ambitious  schemes ;  these 
malcontents  counseled  a  retreat  to  Tlascala.  Others  found 
fault  that  he  had  dealt  so  mildly  with  the  Indians,  and 
still  others  said  that  he  had  been  foolhardy  and  had  ruined 
the  expedition  by  leading  them  into  this  dangerous  place. 
Most  of  them,  however,  sided  with  their  general,  who 
thought  a  time  had  come  to  strike  a  blow  which  should 
for  ever  put  a  stop  to  Indian  treachery.  The  next  morn- 
ing Cortez  so  posted  his  guns  as  to  command  the  great 
avenues  of  the  city  and  stationed  a  guard  of  picked  men 
at  the  three  entrances  to  his  own  quarters.  The  Tlasca- 
lans  had  orders  to  come  to  his  assistance  when  a  signal- 
gun  should  be  fired. 

It  was  still  very  early  when  some  of  the  Cholulau 
chiefs  came  into  the  courtyard  with  the  two  thousand 
porters  they  had  promised  the  day  before,  and  these, 
with  the  Spanish  soldiers  on  duty,  soon  crowded  the 
place.  Then,  calling  aside  their  leader,  Cortez  charged 
the  Cholulans  with  the  plot  he  had  discovered.  Small 
time  was  allowed  for  explanation,  as  the  signal  to  fire 
on  the  unarmed  crowd  penned  in  the  enclosure  was 
immediately  given  to  those  who  held  the  entrances. 
The  noise  within  the  courtyard  attracted  a  furious  mob 
outside,  but  they  were  mowed  down  by  the  guns,  which 
swept  the  avenues.  As  the  foremost  fell  others  rushed 
on  over  the  heaps  of  slain.  The  Tlascalans,  who  had 
been  eagerly  listening  for  the  signal,  now  came  pouring 
into  the  city  and  attacked  the  Cholulans  in  the  rear.  By 
the  orders  of  Cortez  his  allies  wore  sedge-leaves  on  their 
heads,  to  distinguish  them  from  the  natives  of  Cholula 
and  Mexico. 

As  usual  in  Mexican  warfare,  the  battle  raged  most 


176  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

fiercely  around  the  temple,  and  on  this  awful  day  the 
great  pyramid  of  Cholula  became  the  centre  of  the 
storm  which  broke  over  the  city.  Many  of  the  Cho- 
lulans  rushed  up  its  steep  stairways  and  took  refuge  in 
the  towers  with  which  it  was  crowned.  From  thence 
they  hurled  stones,  but  with  little  effect,  on  the  heads 
of  the  invaders  who  pressed  up  behind  them.  These 
tall  towers,  which  were  of  wood,  were  soon  wrapped  in 
flames.  The  city  was  given  up  to  pillage.  The  fierce 
Tlascalans  captured  scores  of  victims  for  their  altars, 
and  led  them  away  to  their  camp,  to  be  offered  up  to 
the  gods  in  that  feast  which  would  mark  their  trium- 
phal return  to  their  own  valleys. 

Some  of  the  Cholulan  chiefs  who  had  escaped  implored 
Cortez  to  shield  Cholula  from  the  vengeance  of  his  ter- 
rible allies.  However  foreign  was  his  conduct  from  the 
spirit  of  Him  in  whose  cause  he  professed  to  be  engaged, 
there  was  something  which  led  the  poor  Cholulans  to 
trust  in  the  white  men  rather  than  in  those  whose  relig- 
ion was  one  of  vengeance.  The  efforts  of  Cortez  to  quell 
the  uproar  were  in  time  successful.  It  is  said  that  he 
prevailed  on  his  allies  to  give  up  their  captives.  If  this 
be  true,  they  gave  the  highest  proof  of  their  regard  for 
his  washes  which  was  possible  to  a  Mexican  Indian.  All 
the  inhabitants  but  the  chiefs  who  had  been  shut  up 
were  driven  from  the  city.  Many  of  the  towers  and 
houses  were  burned,  and  more  than  three  thousand  of 
the  people  had  been  killed. 

Returning  to  his  quarters,  Cortez  called  his  Cholulan 
prisoners  to  account.  With  one  consent  they  excused 
themselves  and  blamed  the  Aztecs.  If  he  would  forgive 
them  this  time,  they  promised  to  be  henceforth  and  for 
ever  faithful  subjects  of  the  great  lord  across  the  sea. 


HO  FOR  THE  CAPITAL  I  177 

Two  of  these  chiefs  were  sent  out  to  invite  the  people  to 
come  back  to  their  homes,  and,  says  Cortez,  "the  next 
day  the  whole  city  was  filled  with  men,  women  and 
children  in  as  much  security  as  if  nothing  had  oc- 
curred." 

Many  a  fatherless  family  there  was  that  sad  day  as 
the  women  and  children  who  had  fled  for  shelter  to  the 
mountains  came  flocking  back  to  their  desolate  homes. 
Saddest  of  all  were  the  black-robed  priests  who  had 
escaped  the  general  carnage.  Now  that  the  fight  was 
over  and  the  dead  were  buried,  the  Spanish  general 
began  his  work  of  cleansing  their  temples  and  convert- 
ing their  flocks  to  the  new  religion.  What  was  left  of 
the  great  teocallis  was  turned  into  a  Christian  church. 
An  immense  cross  was  erected  among  the  smouldering 
ruins,  and,  but  for  the  wise  counsel  of  Fathers  Olmedo 
and  Diaz,  the  war  for  conquest  would  have  been  followed 
by  as  fierce  a  crusade  for  the  Church.  Yet  happy  were 
the  captives  who  were  waiting  their  turn  to  be  sacrificed. 
Every  door  of  every  cage  was  opened.  If  there  was 
anything  in  all  that  troublous  time  which  satisfied  the 
Indians  that  Feathered  Serpent  had  come  again  in  the 
person  of  Cortez,  it  was  this  act  of  mercy.  How  strangely 
were  the  cruelties  of  that  dark  and  bloody  age  in  which 
he  lived  mingled  with  the  fulfillment  of  that  prophecy 
of  "  liberty  to  the  captive  and  the  opening  of  the  prison 
to  them  that  are  bound  " ! 

Another  embassy  from  Mexico  showed  what  a  fright 
events  in  Cholula  had  given  to  the  Aztec  council.  They 
begged  that  the  white  men  would  not  trouble  themselves 
to  come  any  farther,  as  they  inhabited  a  cold  and  barren 
country  and  the  people  were  poor ;  they  would,  however, 
supply  their  visitors  with  such  provision  as  they  could 
12 


178  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

spare.  It  is  plain  that  from  first  to  last  the  European 
idea  of  conquest  never  entered  their  minds;  they  sup- 
posed that  Cortez  persisted  in  coming  because  he  was 
not  satisfied  with  the  amount  of  tribute  they  offered. 
It  was  not  strange,  therefore,  that  the  representatives 
of  these  poverty-stricken  tribes  should  come  laden  with 
more  gifts  for  the  conquerors.  They  had  already  poured 
enough  of  their  treasure  at  the  feet  of  the  invaders  to 
lure  the  most  homesick  man  in  the  camp  across  the 
mountains,  and  every  time  they  came  the  army  were  fired 
with  new  courage  to  seek  a  place  where  gold  and  gems 
were  so  plentiful.  Besides  their  protest,  the  council  sent 
an  explanation  of  the  part  they  had  taken  in  the  Cholula 
affair.  They  professed  sincerely  to  deplore  the  treacher- 
ous conduct  of  their  allies  in  that  city,  and  said  that 
their  army  had  been  sent  to  that  neighborhood  to  quell 
some  disturbances  in  two  tributary  tribes  whose  lands 
joined  those  of  the  Cholulans. 

Cortez  wisely  forbore  to  express  his  doubts  of  Aztec 
sincerity ;  his  face  was  now  turned  toward  Mexico,  and 
it  was  politic  to  show  himself  as  friendly  as  possible  to- 
ward the  authorities  there.  He  soothed  the  evident  fears 
of  his  visitors,  at  the  same  time  assuring  them  that  he 
was  certainly  coming  to  visit  their  country. 

And  yet  again  the  terror-stricken  chiefs  sent  messen- 
gers over  the  gradually  shortened  way  between  their  city 
and  the  Spanish  camp.  The  burden  of  their  story  now 
was  that  Montezuma  was  anxious  that  Cortez  should 
take  a  safe  road  on  his  inevitable  journey. 

This  message  reached  the  general  on  his  way  to  Mex- 
ico. The  army  had  come  to  a  place  where  the  road 
forked.  One  well-worn  footpath  was  choked  with 
trunks  of  prostrate  trees  and  other  rubbish  which  had 


HO  FOR  THE  CAPITAL!  179 

recently  been  put  there  by  order  of  the  Mexican  council ; 
the  other  path  was  that  which  had  been  marked  for  the 
army  as  the  best  and  safest  for  the  horses.  It  is  not 
strange  that  fresh  treachery  was  suspected  here.  Find- 
ing that  the  road  which  the  Indians  had  blocked  up  was 
the  most  direct,  Cortez  ordered  his  men  to  clear  it  of 
stones  and  of  timber.  They  made  short  work  of  this, 
the  Tlascalans  especially  laboring  with  a  will  to  open  a 
path  toward  the  citadel  of  their  lifelong  enemies.  The 
courage  of  the  Totonacs,  however,  gave  out  at  the  last 
moment;  so,  thanking  them  for  their  fidelity  in  the  time 
of  his  greatest  need,  Cortez  dismissed  them  with  liberal 
rewards  out  of  the  abundance  with  which  Montezuma 
had  provided  him. 

The  army  now  pressed  on  and  up  the  highest  of  the 
great  mountain-ranges  on  which  are  piled  the  central 
table-lands  of  Mexico.  Cortez  writes  of  it:  "Eight 
leagues  from  the  city  of  Cholula  are  two  very  lofty  and 
remarkable  mountains.*  In  the  latter  part  of  August 
their  summits  are  covered  with  snow,  and  from  the  high- 
er a  volume  of  smoke  arises  equal  in  bulk  to  a  spacious 
house.  It  ascends  above  the  mountain  to  the  clouds  as 
straight  as  an  arrow,  and  with  such  force  that,  although 
a  very  strong  wind  is  always  blowing  on  the  mountain,  it 
does  not  turn  the  smoke  from  its  course.  As  I  wished  to 
ascertain  the  cause  of  this  phenomenon,  as  it  appeared  to 
me,  I  despatched  ten  of  my  companions,  with  several 
natives  of  the  country  for  guides,  charging  them  to  as- 
cend the  mountain  and  find  out  the  cause  of  that  smoke. 
They  went  and  struggled  with  all  their  might  to  reach 
the  summit,  but  were  unable,  on  account  of  the  great 
quantity  of  snow  which  lay  on  the  mountains,  the  whirl- 

*  Popocatapetl  and  Iztaccihuatl,  both  snow-clad  all  the  year. 


180  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

wind  of  ashes  which  swept  over  it  and  the  insupportable 
cold." 

From  one  of  the  dizzy  heights  on  this  burning  moun- 
tain, Popocatapetl,  the  explorers  saw  an  Indian  trail  wind- 
ing down  through  the  stunted  shrubbery  of  a  pass  at 
their  feet  which  seemed  much  more  direct  and  easy 
than  the  one  which  the  army  had  chosen.  Wrapping 
some  huge  icicles  in  their  blankets,  to  prove  that  they 
had  actually  been  in  this  frigid  zone,  the  party  retraced 
their  steps.  After  some  conference  with  their  Aztec 
leaders,  it  was  decided  to  take  the  route  just  discovered. 

A  storm  of  rain  and  sleet  was  now  sweeping  wildly 
through  the  pass.  Men  and  horses  were  benumbed  with 
cold,  but  they  struggled  on  till  nightfall,  when  they  came 
to  an  inhabited  place  in  Chalco,  where  the  Aztecs  pointed 
out  a  large  house  newly  built  by  their  country-folk  for 
the  accommodation  of  the  traveling  public.  In  this 
building  Cortez  and  all  his  men,  numbering  between  four 
and  five  thousand,  found  shelter  for  the  night.  Abun- 
dance of  provision  had  been  stored  up  here,  with  firewood 
ready  for  use.  Every  lodging-room  was  soon  warmed 
by  a  blazing  fire  built  on  the  stone  floors.  The  smoke 
escaped  through  the  open  window  or  door,  there  being 
no  chimneys  in  all  Mexico. 

The  army  was  now  approaching  the  valley  by  a  road 
which  crossed  its  mountain-wall  between  the  two  great 
peaks,  Popocatapetl  an<^  Iztaccihuatl,  which  rise  on  the 
south-east  like  the  pillars  of  some  majestic  gateway. 
They  had  not  yet  reached  the  highest  point  in  the 
pass  when  they  were  met  by  messengers  from  the 
Aztec  council ;  they  were  charged  with  one  more  almost 
despairing  message  from  the  council.  With  childish 
fear  and  persistence,  they  begged  the  Spaniards  even 


182  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

then,  when  almost  in  sight  of  the  city  so  long  the 
goal  of  their  hopes,  to  turn  back.  They  laid  more 
gold  at  the  general's  feet,  with  many  rich  and  costly 
stuffs  and  an  offer  of  tribute  without  stint.  They 
were  kindly  received,  as  before.  Cortez  assured  them 
that  he  would  be  very  willing  to  oblige  Moutezuma  by 
turning  back,  but  that  he  had  come  by  command  of  his 
king,  who  would  never  be  satisfied  without  a  full  account 
of  the  country  from  an  eye-witness.  After  a  personal 
interview  with  Montezuma  he  would  be  better  able  to 
decide  how  much  tribute  the  Aztecs  should  pay  to  his 
master. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

MEXICO  REACHED  AT  LAST. 

TT  was  on  the  morning  of  November  8,  1519,  that 
J-  from  the  top  of  Ilhuatca  the  army  of  Cortez  saw 
what  seemed  to  their  dazzled  eyes  a  landscape  in  Fairy- 
land. Snow-capped  mountains  enclosed  a  valley  rich  in 
bloom  and  verdure,  with  clear  lakes  laughing  through  the 
endless  summer  of  a  tropical  year.  In  this  crystal  setting 
rose  a  capital  worthy  of  any  dream  of  the  far-famed  At- 
lantis. Miles  of  wide,  clean  streets  radiating  from  the 
gates  of  the  colossal  temple  were  lined  with  massive 
stone  edifices  having  walls  of  glittering  stucco  and 
terraced  roofs  abloom  with  flowers.  These  houses  were 
the  homes  of  at  least  three  hundred  thousand  people. 
A  fringe  of  beautiful  island-gardens  were  seen  dotting 
the  lakes,  spacious  and  well-ordered  market-places,  canals 
alive  with  boats,  aqueducts  whose  ruins  still  attest  the 
superior  skill  of  those  ancient  masons,  parks  and  pleas- 
ure-grounds, and,  towering  above  all,  the  great  pyramidal 
temple,  altar-crowned  and  smoking  day  and  night  like 
the  lofty  peaks  which  marked  the  sky-line  of  the  land- 
scape. 

In  spite  of  the  cringing  terror  which  Montezuma  had 
lately  betrayed  in  his  messages  to  them,  the  soldiers  of 
Cortez,  gazing  at  all  this  splendor,  dreaded  to  grapple 
with  a  people  whose  civilization  seemed  not  only  to  equal, 

1S3 


184  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

but  to  exceed,  their  own.  Nothing  but  his  own  indomi- 
table courage  and  towering  ambition  upheld  Cortez  as  he 
led  the  little  band  of  his  countrymen  over  these  moun- 
tain-walls, whose  gates  now  seemed  to  close  behind  him 
and  to  shut  out  all  hope  of  rescue  should  help  be  needed. 
Looking  westward  from  their  lofty  perch,  the  soldiers 
saw  the  Lake  of  Chalco,  with  its  island-city  and  numer- 
ous white-walled  hamlets  peeping  out  from  embowering 
trees  or  half  hidden  amid  the  luxuriant  fields  of  corn 
and  maguey. 

It  wras  daybreak  when  the  army  began  to  descend  into 
the  Valley  of  Mexico.  They  soon  reached  a  well-built 
town  on  the  mountain-side,  now  called  Amaquemeca. 
Here  they  were  kindly  received  by  an  Aztec  official, 
who  kept  them  two  days  and  supplied  them  with  abun- 
dance of  provisions  and  with  the  gold  which  they 
coveted  more  than  all  else.  Envoys  from  Mexico  re- 
ceived them  here,  and  went  with  them  a  inarch  of  twelve 
miles  to  their  first  resting-place  in  the  valley.  This  was 
in  Ajotziuco,  a  town  built  partly  on  the  shelving  side  of 
the  mountain  and  partly  on  piles  in  the  lake.  The  streets 
of  this  lower  part  were  all  canals,  and  were  alive  with 
the  canoes  of  market-men  bringing  provisions  into  the 
city  from  suburban  gardens,  and  of  others  who  ministered 
to  the  needs  of  a  large  population. 

The  night  spent  in  Ajotzinco  was  one  of  great  anxiety 
to  the  vigilant  general.  Indian  friends  had  informed 
him  that  an  attack  might  be  looked  for  here,  and  pointed 
to  villagers  who  came  down  the  mountains  or  entered  by 
the  canal,  eager  to  see  the  strangers.  Cortez  professed 
to  take  them  all  for  spies,  and,  probably  intending  to 
create  a  wholesome  awe  at  the  outset,  ordered  the  guard 
to  shoot  fifteen  or  twenty  of  these  over-curious  visitors. 


MEXICO  REACHED  AT  LAST.  185 

"But  few  of  them,"  he  coolly  says,  "returned  to  give 
the  information  they  were  sent  to  obtain." 

At  Ajotzinco,  as  the  army  were  about  to  leave,  they 
were  asked  to  wait,  as  Cacama,  the  young  chief  of  Tez- 
cuco,  wras  on  his  way  to  give  the  strangers  a  formal 
welcome  to  the  valley.  He  was  a  young  man  of  about 
twenty-five  years  of  age,  erect  and  proud,  as  became  an 
Indian  chief,  coming  in  a  splendid  litter  borne  on  the 
shoulders  of  men.  As  he  alighted  his  attendants  began 
to  gather  the  stones  which  strewed  his  path,  and  to  sweep 
it  clean  for  his  richly-sandaled  feet.*  As  he  advanced 
into  the  presence  of  the  general  he  bowed  to  touch  the 
earth,  and  then  raised  his  right  hand  to  his  head — 
a  Mexican  token  of  respect  to  a  person  of  high  rank 
now  common  in  Oriental  lands.  Cacama  was  bearer 
of  another  chilling  message  from  Montezuma.  It  was 
Montezuma's  earnest  wish  that  the  strangers  would  be 
satisfied  to  stay  away;  but  if  they  were  still  determined 
to  visit  him,  he  would  receive  them  at  his  home,  as  he 
was  too  ill  to  come  to  meet  them. 

After  an  exchange  of  presents  and  of  brief  speeches 
through  Marina  as  interpreter  the  Spaniards  marched 
out  of  Ajotzinco  to  the  causeway  across  Lake  Chalco,  a 
well-built  structure  wide  enough  in  some  places  for 
eight  horsemen  to  ride  abreast.  The  lake  was  alive 
with  canoes,  in  most  of  which  were  sightseers  gliding  in 
and  out  from  among  the  chinampas,  or  floating  gardens, 
which  lined  the  causeway. 

About  three  miles  out  in  Lake  Chalco,  Cortez  spied  a 
fortress  rising  out  of  the  water ;  it  was  well  defended  with 
towers  and  capable  of  holding  from  one  to  two  thousand 

*  It  is  said  that  this  custom  still  prevails  among  the  Indians  of 
Mexico  when  a  person  of  consequence  is  traveling. 


186 


ABOUT  MEXICO. 


people.  No  gates  were  visible.  Access  to  the  interior 
was  probably  gained  by  ladders,  which  were  drawn  up  in 
case  of  threatened  danger.  This  fortress  commanded  the 
approaches  to  a  small  but  beautiful  city  built  wholly  in 
the  water.  As  the  army  passed  through  this  place  an 


Jbbzp 
THE  VALLEY  OF 
MEXICO 


excellent  supper  was  given  to  the  soldiers,  with  an  invi- 
tation to  stay  all  night ;  but  their  Aztec  escort  advised 
that  they  should  go  a  few  miles  farther,  to  Iztapalapa, 
the  home  of  Montezuma's  brother,*  on  the  southern  bor- 
der of  the  salt  lake  Tezcuco.  This  city  lay  within  full 
*  This  city  still  remains,  under  its  old  name. 


MEXICO  REACHED  AT  LAST.  187 

view  of  Mexico,  only  six  miles  distant.  From  Iztapal- 
apa  a  broad  stone  causeway  led  westward  through  the 
lake  to  the  island-capital.  Very  near  the  city  this  cause- 
way was  intersected  by  another,  which  led  southward  to 
the  mainland.  At  the  junction  of  these  two  causeways 
was  a  very  strong  fort  with  two  high  towers,  surrounded 
by  a  double  parapetted  wall  twelve  feet  high.  This  was 
Fort  Xoloc,  afterward  so  famous  in  the  siege  of  Mexico. 

After  a  night's  rest  hi  the  halls  of  Iztapalapa  the 
army  was  met  by  a  large  party  of  Aztec  chiefs  and 
warriors  gayly  dressed  in  mantles  of  embroidered  cot- 
ton or  costly  feather-work,  their  faces  sparkling  with 
gems  set  in  wrrought  gold,  which  hung  from  lips,  ears 
and  noses.  As  each  one  came  within  speaking  distance 
he  saluted  the  general  by  touching  the  ground  and 
then  lifting  his  hand  to  his  head.  The  long  proces- 
sion was  an  hour  passing  Cortez  with  this  tedious  cere- 
mony. This  over,  the  Spaniards  took  up  their  line  of 
march  into  the  city.  The  streets  swarmed  with  an  eager 
crowd,  which  covered  the  house-roofs  and  filled  every 
doorway  and  loophole  from  which  a  view  could  be 
obtained. 

As  the  Spaniards  crossed  one  of  the  movable  wooden 
bridges  which  spanned  the  canals  of  the  city,  Monte- 
zuma,  in  a  splendid  litter  and  attended  by  a  brilliant 
retinue,  came  down  a  broad  avenue  to  meet  them.  With 
him  marched  two  hundred  chiefs  in  single  file,  in  two 
processions,  one  on  each  side  of  the  way  and  close  to  the 
houses.  When  near  the  strangers,  Montezuma  alighted 
and  came  forward  supported  on  the  arm  of  his  brother- 
chiefs  of  Tezcuco  and  Iztapalapa.  Tapestry  was  spread 
for  his  richly-sandaled  feet,  and  a  canopy  gay  with 
feathers  and  glittering  with  gold  and  jewels  was  held 


188  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

over  his  head.  Cortez  alighted  from  his  horse  and  ad- 
vanced alone  to  meet  the  chieftain  whom  he  had  so  long 
desired  to  see.  As  the  representative  of  his  king  he 
would  have  given  to  M'ontezuma  those  brotherly  greet- 
ings common  among  the  European  sovereigns  of  that 
day,  but  the  attendant  chiefs  instantly  checked  what 
they  considered  undue  familiarity.  A  glittering  collar 
of  pearls  and  crystal  which  Cortez  took  from  his  own 
neck  and  threw  over  Montezuma's  shoulders  was  gra- 
ciously accepted,  however. 

In  the  Mexican  ceremony  of  touching  the  ground 
which  followed,  Montezuma  headed  the  long  procession 
that  filed  by  the  Spanish  commander.  Not  an  eye 
was  lifted  from  the  ground  as  with  measured  step  and 
great  dignity  the  natives  passed  the  strangers  whose 
mighty  exploits  and  mysterious  errand  to  their  shores 
had  been  for  months  the  theme  of  every  tongue.  Moute- 
zurna  soon  returned,  and  after  directing  his  brother  to 
remain  with  Cortez  he  at  once  re-entered  his  litter  and 
was  borne  away. 

A  spacious  building  in  the  centre  of  the  city  and  oppo- 
site the  great  temple  had  been  assigned  to  the  Spaniards 
for  their  use  during  their  stay ;  here  the  great  chieftain 
awaited  his  guests.  Taking  Cortez  by  the  hand,  he  led 
him  into  a  saloon  and  seated  him  on  a  piece  of  rich  car- 
peting with  which  the  floor  was  spread,  telling  him  to 
wait  until  he  should  return. 

Montezuma  soon  reappeared  accompanied  by  attend- 
ants laden  with  many  costly  and  substantial  gifts,  among 
which,  says  Cortez,  were  "  five  or  six  thousand  pieces  of 
cotton  cloth  very  rich  and  of  varied  texture  and  finish." 
The  soldiers  had  all  been  dismissed  to  their  quarters,  and, 
with  a  few  of  his  officers,  Cortez  was  alone.  Taking  his 


MEXICO  REACHED  AT  LAST.  189 

seat  on  another  piece  of  carpet,  near  his  guest,  Monte- 
zuma through  an  interpreter  made  his  first  formal  speech 
of  welcome.  He  was  a  man  in  the  prime  of  life,  tall 
and  well  formed,  paler  in  color  than  his  brethren,  with 
a  careworn  look  which  was  easily  explained  when  we 
remember  the  harassing  anxiety  of  the  past  months. 
His  beard  was  thin  and  his  hair  was  long,  black  and 
straight,  short  hair  being  considered  by  Mexicans  very 
undignified  in  a  person  of  rank.  He  wore  a  large  em- 
broidered mantle  sprinkled  with  precious  stones,  a  heav- 
ily-fringed scarf  about  his  loins  and  sandals  with  golden 
soles.  Several  rich  plumes  of  green  towered  above  his 
head. 

Sitting  there  on  the  floor  beside  Cortez,  Montezuma 
gave  the  history  of  his  forefathers,  going  back  to  days 
when  other  white  men  had  come  from  some  far  land  at 
the  east  and  gained  possessions  in  Anahuac.*  Their 
chief  afterward  went  back  to  his  own  country,  but  came 
again  after  many  years.  Those  of  his  people  who  had 
remained  had  intermarried  with  the  natives  and  built 
towns,  but  they  would  not  acknowledge  him  as  their 
ruler.  The  disowned  chief  went  away  to  the  east,  prom- 
ising to  come  again  and  bring  the  people  into  subjection. 

"  From  what  you  tell  us  of  your  country  toward  the 
sunrising,"  said  Montezuma,  "and  of  your  chief  the 
master  of  the  whole  earth,  who  has  known  of  us  and 
sent  you  hither  to  see  us,  we  believe  that  he  is  our  nat- 
ural lord,  and  as  such  we  desire  to  obey  him.  We  pay 
our  tribute  to  you  in  his  place.  You  shall  rule  this  land 
for  him.  All  we  have  is  at  your  disposal.  We  will  not 
deceive  you.  Since  you  are  in  your  own  country  and 

*  A  name  meaning  "  near  the  water,"  applied  to  the  country  in- 
cluded between  the  fourteenth  and  twenty-first  degrees  of  latitude. 


190  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

your  own  house,  rest  and  refresh  yourselves  after  the 
toils  of  the  journey.  I  believe  that  the  Totonacs  and 
Tlascalaus  have  told  you  much  evil  of  us,  but  do  not 
believe  them.  They  are  our  enemies.  They  have  told 
you  that  my  house  and  my  furniture  are  of  gold,  that  I 
myself  am  a  god.  But  you  see  it  is  not  so;"  and  he 
opened  his  robes  as  he  spoke.  "  You  see  that  T  am  flesh 
and  blood  like  yourselves." 

Once  more  assuring  Cortez  with  much  apparent  sin- 
cerity that  he  was  in  his  own  home  and,  with  his  army, 
would  be  bountifully  supplied  with  all  that  he  needed, 
Moutezuma  concluded  his  long  address  and  went  away. 

The  quarters  assigned  to  the  army  were  in  one  of  the 
communal  dwellings  already  described,  which,  with  its 
hundreds  of  rooms,  was  large  enough  to  hold  them 
all.  It  was  very  near  the  great  temple,  was  two  sto- 
ries high  in  the  centre,  with  many  spacious  apartments, 
and  had  loopholed  towers  along  its  walls.  Some  of 
these  great  rooms  were  hung  with  gayly-tinted  draperies 
and  had  inlaid  floors  and  ceilings  of  smoothly-polished 
wood.  But  little  furniture  was  required,  since  bed  and 
bedding  commonly  consisted  of  a  mat  wrapped  about  the 
sleeper,  who  stretched  himself  on  the  stone  floor.  Other 
beds  were  canopied  and  had  soft  cotton  coverlets. 

The  Aztecs  provided  well  for  their  unwelcome  guests. 
A  hot  supper  was  spread  for  all,  and  the  men  turned  in 
for  the  night  after  taking  every  precaution  against  attack. 
Cannon  were  planted  at  each  entrance,  and  the  sentinels 
had  orders  to  shoot  any  man  who  left  the  quarters  with- 
out permission  from  the  general.  It  was  usual  to  fire  an 
evening-gun,  but  the  first  night  which  the  Spaniards  spent 
in  Mexico  was  celebrated  by  the  most  thunderous  discharge 
of  artillery  it  was  in  their  power  to  make.  The  whole 


MEXICO  EE ACHED  AT  LAST.  191 

city,  just  quieted  after  the  feverish  excitement  of  the  day 
was  roused  again,  as  though  the  burning  mountain  on 
whose  hearthstone  the  city  seemed  to  stand  had  suddenly 
belched  out  fire  and  brimstone  in  its  very  streets. 

The  next  day  Cortez  and  his  suite  obtained  permission 
to  visit  Montezuma's  palace,  which  was  not  far  away. 
Many  questions  were  asked  and  answered  on  both  sides 
in  this  interview.  Montezuma  showed  particular  interest 
in  the  personal  rank  of  his  visitors,  and  soon  made  him- 
self acquainted  with  their  names  and  titles. 

It  was  during  these  peaceful  days  of  his  stay  in  Mex- 
ico that  Cortez  made  his  first  effort  to  teach  the  Aztecs 
the  true  faith.  He  always  declared  that  this  was  the 
-chief  object  of  his  visit,  and  he  would  never  entrust 
it  wholly  even  to  the  priests  who  accompanied  him.  As 
he  was  always  obliged  to  speak  through  his  interpreter, 
the  Aztec  girl  Marina,  we  may  suppose  that  her  gentle 
manner  gave  a  softer  tone  to  the  lecture  than  the  zealous 
general  would  have  wished.  How  much  of  the  truth 
the  newly-converted  Marina  could  communicate  to  the 
devout  and  thoughtful  chief  we  cannot  say,  but  we  know 
that  the  story  of  the  cross  is  thrilling  no  matter  how  sim- 
ply it  may  be  told.  No  one  can  listen  to  the  fact  that 
"  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten 
Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish, 
but  have  everlasting  life,"  without  hearing  the  gospel  in 
its  wondrous  fullness.  But  it  is  not  likely  that  this 
proud  soldier  put  the  meek  and  lowly  Saviour  first  in 
his  word-picture  of  redemption.  It  was  not  Jesus  with 
his  compassion  on  the  multitude,  but  the  cross  on  which 
he  died — not  the  salvation  he  purchased  for  a  lost  world, 
but  the  Church  he  had  commissioned  to  proclaim  it — 
that  were  most  prominent  in  all  these  discussions. 


192  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

Montezuma  was  willing  to  admit  that  the  Christians' 
God  was  good  and  great  and  worthy  of  a  place  among 
Mexican  deities,  but  a  pious  horror  filled  his  mind  when 
it  was  suggested  that  he  should  set  these  aside  and  wor- 
ship one  just  imported  into  the  country.  Had  not  his 
people  gained  all  their  prosperity  since  they  chose  Hum- 
ming-Bird  for  their  guide  and  protector  ?  For  more  than 
one  hundred  years  they  had  marched  to  victory  behind 
his  image.  On  the  other  hand,  if  Feathered  Serpent 
was  about  to  assert  his  old  supremacy,  could  they  not 
win  his  favor  by  giving  to  the  Toltec  rites  which  had 
always  been  observed  in  the  temple  the  leading  place  in 
its  ceremonies  ?  But  Cortez  insisted  on  something  more 
than  this,  and  Montezuma  was  sorely  perplexed. 

There  were  two  parties  not  only  in  the  council  as 
such,  but  among  its  priestly  members.  Those  who  were 
most  loyal  to  the  war-god  would  have  marched  to  the 
coast  on  the  first  appearance  of  the  white  men  and  swept 
them  out  of  the  country ;  the  other  party  would  do 
nothing  which  would  offend  the  hero  of  the  nation's 
dreams  should  he  be  hidden  under  a  Spaniard's  armor. 
To  this  latter  party  Montezuma  belonged.  It  must 
have  had  considerable  strength  from  the  first,  or  the 
strangers  would  not  have  been  received  by  relays  of 
tribute-bearers.  But  it  is  not  probable  that,  with  all 
the  superstitious  awe  with  which  they  were  regarded, 
they  would  have  been  allowed  without  resistance  to  inter- 
fere with  the  service  of  the  temple.  Yet  in  one  of  the 
stories  with  which  Cortez  seeks  to  win  his  monarch's 
favor  he  pictures  himself  as  so  full  of  missionary  zeal 
that  the  first  time  he  went  to  the  temple  with  Monte- 
zuma he  tore  down  the  war-god  and  his  associates  from 
their  pedestal  and  sent  them  tumbling  down  the  temple- 


MEXICO  REACHED  AT  LAST.  193 

stairs.  He  afterward  cleansed  the  darkened  shrines 
where  these  idols  stood,  and,  forbidding  Montezuma  ever 
to  pollute  them  again  with  human  blood,  put  up  in  their 
places  images  of  Our  Lady  and  the  saints,  which,  he 
coolly  adds,  "excited  not  a  little  feeling  with  Monte- 
zuma and  the  inhabitants.  They  at  first  remonstrated, 
declaring  that  if  my  proceedings  were  known  through- 
out the  country  the  people  would  rise  against  me."  Upon 
this,  Cortez  preached  a  sermon  on  the  great  sin  of  idol- 
atry. He  represents  Montezuma  as  meekly  responding 
that  no  doubt  he  and  his  people  had  fallen  into  many 
errors,  and  that  Cortez,  having  so  recently  come  from 
the  home  of  their  ancestors  at  the  East,  must  know  more 
of  the  religion  they  taught  than  those  could  who  had 
been  so  long  absent  from  it,  and  if  he  would  instruct 
them  in  these  matters  and  make  them  understand  the 
true  faith  they  would  follow  his  directions.  He  also 
says,  "Afterward,  Montezuma  and  many  of  the  principal 
citizens  remained  with  me  until  I  had  removed  the  idols, 
purified  the  cluipels  and  placed  the  images  in  them,  man- 
ifesting apparent  pleasure  in  the  change." 

Cortez  had  from  the  beginning  given  his  religion  a 
foremost  place.  However  early  he  might  set  out,  the 
matin-bell  was  rung  and  mass  was  performed  before  the 
troops  left  their  camp.  Their  march  was  marked  by  the 
crosses  they  set  up  on  every  campground.  One  of  his 
first  orders,  therefore,  on  arriving  in  Mexico  was  that  a 
suitable  room  should  be  fitted  up  in  their  quarters  as  a 
chapel.  While  the  carpenters  were  arranging  for  an 
altar  they  found  what  seemed  to  be  a  doorway  recently 
plastered  up.  Visions  of  hidden  treasure  filled  the 
minds  of  those  who  made  short  work  of  opening  this 
secret  room.  Their  suspicions  proved  to  be  correct: 
is 


194  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

they  found  themselves  in  a  large  hall  filled  with  rich 
stuffs,  costly  ornaments  and  gold,  silver  and  precious 
stones.  "  I  was  a  young  man  when  I  saw  it,"  says  Ber- 
nal  Diaz,  "  and  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  all  the  treasures 
of  the  world  were  in  that  room."  "Hands  off!"  was  a 
hard  command  in  the  face  of  such  a  treasure,  but  Cortez 
was  able  to  enforce  it.  He  gave  orders  that  the  hole 
should  be  sealed  up,  and  that  for  the  present  no  one 
should  mention  what  he  knew  of  Montezuma's  secret 
hoards. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

A  CAPTIVE  CHIEF. 

only  opportunity  which  Europeans  ever  had  of 
-  seeing  the  Aztecs  at  home,  pursuing  the  ordinary 
business  of  life,  was  during  the  first  five  months  which 
Cortez  and  his  companions  spent  in  the  valley.  Although 
a  city  invaded  by  the  inhabitants  of  another  world — as 
the  Spaniards  seemed  to  the  Mexicans  to  be — must  have 
been  excited  by  their  presence,  it  is  probable  that  Mexico 
and  its  people  appeared  to  these  visitors  much  as  they  had 
been  for  nearly  a  hundred  years.  Possibly  it  had  not  been 
so  long  since  it  had  been  beneath  the  dignity  of  a  chief 
of  high  rank  to  walk  up  stairs.  Mexican  officials 
appear  then  to  have  indulged  in  a  pomp  unknown 
before  and  quite  out  of  keeping  with  the  democratic 
principles  of  the  tribe.  An  instance  of  this  occurred 
during  this  first  week  in  Mexico,  when  Cortez  and 
Montezuma  were  together  visiting  the  great  temple. 
They  had  come  to  the  foot  of  the  first  flight  of  stairs, 
when  Montezuma  ordered  two  stout  Indian  porters  to 
pick  up  his  guest  and  carry  him  in  their  arms  to  the  top 
of  the  building.  Cortez  resisted,  but  the  chief  did  not 
yield  the  point.  He  considered  that  Cortez  was  the  rep- 
resentative of  the  lord  of  the  whole  earth,  and  that  as 
such  he  ought  to  receive  all  the  honors  which  Mexico 
could  heap  upon  him. 

195 


196  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

"You  ought  not  to  walk  up  stairs,"  urged  the  chief; 
"  you  will  be  tired." 

"  Tut,  tut !"  exclaimed  Cortez ;  "  a  Spaniard  is  never 
tired ;"  and,  suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  he  sprang  up 
the  steps,  followed  by  his  stalwart  soldiers,  leaving  the 
astonished  Montezuma  far  behind  in  the  arms  of  his 
carriers. 

The  markets  were  inspected  by  the  Spaniards,  who 
drove  sharp  bargains  with  the  fruit-sellers  and  the 
mechanics.  They  visited  the  parks,  the  museum,  the 
botanical  gardens,  aviaries  and  menageries,  and  fished 
and  rowed  on  lake  and  canal.  Six  days  thus  passed 
pleasantly  away  without  any  disturbance  between  the 
Spaniards  and  their  entertainers.  Even  the  Tlascalans, 
usually  so  defiant  and  suspicious,  seemed  to  forget,  as 
they  walked  the  streets  gazing  on  the  splendors  of 
the  Aztec  capital,  the  vows  taken  in  infancy  never  to  be 
at  peace  with  their  hated  neighbors.  But  such  a  state  of 
things  could  not  be  expected  to  last  long.  As  Cortez 
remarked  in  his  letter  to  the  king  about  that  time,  "  we 
Spaniards  are  somewhat  troublesome  and  difficult  to 
please."  He  was  thinking,  perhaps,  of  the  strain  which 
would  soon  be  put  upon  Montezuma's  loyalty  to  his  new 
liege  across  the  sea.  Cortez  intended  to  make  of  Mexico 
a  Spanish  city,  to  gain  and  to  keep  its  treasure,  to  colo- 
nize the  country,  to  convert  the  people  and  to  become  its 
princely  ruler  under  the  king  and  the  pope  of  Rome. 

Cortez  soon  decided  that  his  first  step  must  be  to  get  pos- 
session of  Montezuma  and  hold  him  as  a  hostage  while  he 
was  teaching  the  people  to  submit  to  their  foreign  rulers. 
He  supposed  that  the  chief  was  the  hereditary  sovereign 
of  Anahuac,  and  that  while  he  could  hold  him  he  would 
have  control  of  the  government.  He  had  the  more  reason 


A  CAPTIVE  CHIEF.  197 

to  expect  success  in  this  daring  scheme  when  he  saw  what 
power  he  had  already  gained  over  Montezuma  through 
his  superstitious  fears.  The  plot  did  not  at  first  meet 
the  approval  of  the  Spanish  officers — not  because  they 
felt  it  to  be  unjust  to  their  kind  and  unsuspecting  host, 
but  because  they  were  less  daring  than  their  leader.  Yet 
he  was  not  long  in  persuading  them  to  yield  to  his  will, 
especially  when  he  explained  that  tidings  from  the  garri- 
son at  Villa  Rica  de  la  Vera  Cruz  would  furnish  him 
with  a  good  pretext  for  arresting  Montezuma  and  hold- 
ing him  prisoner.  Bernal  Diaz  tells  us  that  "  they  were 
so  anxious  over  this  proposition  that  some  of  them  prayed 
all  night  about  it." 

It  seems  that  since  the  army  had  left  Vera  Cruz  a 
tribe  living  to  the  north  of  that  place  had  appealed  to 
the  garrison  for  help  against  Aztec  oppression.  They 
wished  to  ally  themselves  with  the  Spaniards  as  the 
Totonacs  had  done,  and  they  declared  that  they  would 
have  sent  tribute  to  Cortez  while  he  was  at  Villa  Rica 
but  for  fear  of  a  hostile  tribe  whose  lands  they  would  be 
obliged  to  cross.  However,  such  was  the  awe  inspired 
by  the  white  man  that  they  would  dare  even  to  do  this 
if  the  commandant  would  send  them  four  Spaniards  to 
protect  them  from  their  enemies  on  this  dangerous  jour- 
ney. This  request  was  granted,  and  the  four  soldiers 
immediately  set  out.  It  was  not  long  before  two  of 
them  came  back  with  a  terrible  story  of  Indian  cruelty. 
They  were  the  victims  of  an  Aztec  plot.  The  tribe  to 
whose  assistance  they  had  been  sent  were  still  loyal  to 
their  Aztec  masters.  By  the  orders  of  Quancapopoca, 
the  revenue-officer  in  charge,  the  four  Spaniards  had 
been  seized,  and  all  would  have  been  killed  had  not 
two  escaped  to  tell  the  tale. 


198  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

The  commandant  immediately  went  with  fifty  of  his 
men  and  several  hundred  Indian  allies  to  avenge  this 
murder.  In  the  battle  which  followed,  the  Spanish  com- 
mander and  several  of  his  men  were  killed.  The  Aztec 
deputy  and  his  forces  were,  however,  completely  routed, 
and  fled  to  the  mountains.  Prisoners  were  found  in  the 
city,  ready  to  be  sacrificed,  who  accused  the  Aztecs  of  de- 
coying the  Spaniards  into  the  clutches  of  their  tribe,  and 
said  that  an  attack  on  Ceinpoalla  was  also  part  of  this 
plan.  It  was  arranged  that  this  story  should  be  told  by 
Cortez  during  one  of  his  morning  visits  to  Montezuma. 
Taking  with  him  five  of  his  bravest  cavaliers,  the  Span- 
ish leader  arranged  that  others  should  drop  in  as  if  by 
accident.  The  rest  of  the  Spaniards  were  told  to  take 
their  places  quietly  on  the  street-corners  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, to  check  any  attempt  the  people  might  make 
to  rescue  their  chief. 

Moutezuma  was  in  a  very  cheerful  mood  that  morning, 
and  so  profuse  in  his  gifts  that  he  offered  to  many  one 
of  his  young  daughters  to  Cortez  or  to  one  of  his  men, 
and  to  give  with  her  some  of  his  most  valuable  gems. 
Cortez  refused  the  lady  promptly  unless  she  would  be- 
come a  Christian,  but  pocketed  the  gold  and  the  jewels, 
since  they  did  not  need  baptism.  Leading  the  conversa- 
tion toward  graver  topics,  he  introduced  the  story  of 
the  treacherous  dealing  on  the  coast.  Cortez  affected  to 
consider  the  tidings  as  highly  improbable  ;  he  said  he  did 
not  believe  his  host  was  capable  of  such  double  dealing. 
Others,  however,  he  said,  would  not  be  so  charitable ;  and 
if  Montezuma  wished  to  clear  himself,  it  would  be  ne- 
cessary to  arrest  those  who  had  been  concerned  in  the 
murder  and  punish  them  as  they  deserved.  Montezuma 
made  no  objection  to  this,  and  immediately  gave  orders 


A   CAPTIVE  CHIEF.  199 

that  the  proper  officers  should  be  sent  after  the  deputy, 
who  lived  nearly  two  hundred  miles  from  the  city  of 
Mexico.  Cortez  expressed  his  satisfaction  with  this  des- 
patch ;  "  But,"  he  added,  coolly,  "  my  duty  to  my  sover- 
eign will  not  be  accomplished  until  you  have  given  me 
some  hostage  as  a  guarantee  of  your  good  faith.  If  you 
will  come  yourself  to  my  quarters  and  remain  there  until 
this  affair  has  been  cleared  up,  I  will  be  satisfied  that  you 
mean  to  see  that  justice  is  done."  The  startled  Monte- 
zunia  earnestly  protested  against  the  seeming  lack  of  con- 
fidence in  his  honor,  and  offered  to  provide  some  one  else 
in  his  place ;  but  Cortez  was  firm  in  his  demand,  assuring 
the  chief  that  in  no  sense  would  he  be  a  prisoner,  and 
that  he  should  not  only  have  the  services  of  his  own  fol- 
lowers, but  that  all  the  soldiers  would  cheerfully  obey  his 
commands.  In  his  ignorance  of  the  principles  of  gov- 
ernment among  these  Indians,  Cortez  put  duty  before  the 
chief  in  its  strongest  light.  It  was  the  council  which  had 
plotted  against  the  Spaniards.  Montezuma,  as  their  ex- 
ecutive officer,  had  given  the  deputy  his  orders,  and  no 
one  could  be  found  so  suitable  as  himself  to  act  as  their 
hostage  until  justice  could  be  dealt  out  to  those  who  had 
only  obeyed  their  despotic  commands. 

While  Cortez  was  arguing  with  Montezuma,  Velas- 
quez de  Leon  became  very  impatient  lest  the  Indians 
who  stood  around  should  become  excited  and  attack 
them.  He  cried  out  at  last, 

"  Why  do  you  waste  words  on  this  barbarian  ?  We 
have  gone  so  far  that  we  cannot  go  back.  Seize  him ; 
and  if  the  Indians  resist,  we  will  plunge  our  swords  into 
their  bodies." 

"  But  finally,"  says  Cortez  in  his  letter  to  the  king, 
"  he  expressed  his  willingness  to  go  with  me,  and  imme- 


200  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

diately  gave  orders  to  have  the  apartments  he  wished  to 
occupy  made  ready  for  his  use.  This  being  done,  many 
nobles  came  to  him  stripped  of  their  robes,  which  they 
carried  hanging  on  their  arms,  and  barefooted,  bringing 
a  litter,  on  which,  with  tears  in  their  eyes,  they  placed 
him  in  deep  silence ;  and  in  this  manner  we  proceeded 
to  the  quarters  which  I  occupied." 

Meanwhile,  news  of  this  strange  visit  began  to  circu- 
late, and  the  people  might  have  raised  a  disturbance  had 
not  Montezuma  quietly  bade  them  disperse.  He  said 
that  he  was  only  going  on  a  visit  to  his  friends  and  no 
one  need  be  anxious  for  his  safety. 

True  to  his  promise,  the  soldiers  of  Cortez  served  the 
captive  chief  with  great  deference.  His  people  came 
freely  to  see  him,  and  the  council  held  its  meetings  in 
the  Spanish  quarters.  The  chief's  spirit  had  been  thor- 
oughly subdued.  He  was  gentle  and  patient,  very  grate- 
ful for  favors  and  generous  to  a  fault  to  his  grasping 
jailers. 

The  distinguished  visitor  had  time  to  be  fairly  settled 
among  the  Spaniards  when  courtiers  announced  the  arri- 
val of  the  deputy  Quancapopoca  with  a  large  retinue.  He 
was  brought,  as  became  his  rank,  in  an  elegant  litter,  in 
which  he  had  been  carried  over  the  mountains  a  distance 
of  more  than  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles.  He  was 
immediately  delivered  to  Cortez,  who  put  him  and  his 
men  under  a  strong  guard.  At  first  the  whole  party 
denied  that  what  they  had  done  was  by  the  order  of 
Montezuma,  but  on  further  questioning  they  accused 
him  as  the  author  of  the  plot.  The  confession,  how- 
ever, did  not  save  them  from  death.  Cortez  ordered 
them  to  be  taken  to  one  of  the  large  public  squares  of 
the  city,  bound  to  the  stake  and  burned  to  ashes.  Aztec 


A   CAPTIVE  CHIEF.  201 

laws  were  so  severe,  and  the  death-penalty  was  so  com- 
mon, that  this  scene  made  no  commotion  among  the 
crowd  who  gathered  round. 

During  the  execution  Cortez  came  into  his  prisoner's 
apartment  with  a  soldier  bearing  iron  fetters,  and  charged 
Montezurna  with  the  murder  of  the  Spaniards.  Monte- 
zuma  was  completely  overawed,  as  though  he  had  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  a  being  who  could  read  hearts,  a  divine 
avenger  of  ancient  wrongs  committed  by  the  Aztecs.  He 
did  not  resist  when  the  shackles  were  put  on  him,  but 
expressed  his  humiliation  and  anguish  of  soul  in  moans 
and  tears. 

After  the  victims  had  been  burnt  Cortez  ordered  the 
chief  to  be  set  at  liberty.  His  intention  had  been  to 
crush  the  spirit  of  his  captive  and  make  him  contempti- 
ble in  the  eyes  of  his  followers.  He  renewed  his  efforts 
to  soothe  Montezuma  and  make  him  content  with  his 
fate.  At  the  same  time,  he  publicly  announced  that  it 
was  his  wish  that  the  government  should  be  carried  on 
as  before,  with  due  obedience  to  the  king  of  Spain  as  its 
acknowledged  head.  The  Aztecs  quietly  submitted,  sup- 
posing, as  usual,  that  all  Cortez  asked  was  the  tribute 
which  they  so  often  exacted  of  a  conquered  tribe. 

So  docile  had  Montezuma  l>ecorne  that  when  Cortez 
made  the  pretence  of  offering  him  his  liberty  he  refused 
the  boon,  probably  fearing  that  some  of  his  brother-chiefs 
would  kill  him  if  he  ventured  from  under  the  protection 
of  the  Spanish  guns.  He  only  asked  to  be  allowed  to 
visit  the  pleasure-gardens  of  the  city  and  its  neighbor- 
hood. Permission  was  readily  granted,  since  nothing 
could  please  Cortez  better  than  to  keep  his  captive  in  a 
good  humor  while  he  fastened  the  chains  more  securely. 
None  of  the  gay  attendants  around  Montezuma's  splendid 


202  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

litter  were  gayer  than  the  captive  chief  himself  during 
these  excursions.  He  was  fond  of  table-luxuries,  and 
one  entertainment  followed  another.  The  Spaniards 
were  boon-companions,  and  for  a  while  "  all  went  merry 
as  a  marriage-bell."  The  generous  spirit  of  the  chief 
made  it  easy  for  him  to  satisfy  his  new  friends  and  keep 
Marina  busy  with  long  descriptions  of  the  treasures  of 
his  country. 

The  mountains  which  surrounded  Mexico  were  rich  in 
mines  of  silver  and  gold,  and,  as  nothing  interested  the 
Spaniards  so  much  as  to  hear  of  these,  Montezuma  com- 
missioned some  of  his  people  to  go  with  them  to  visit 
these  vast  mineral  depositories.  One  party  went  with 
Aztec  guides  to  inspect  the  mines  of  Oaxaca,  lying  about 
two  hundred  miles  to  the  south.  Their  road  lay  along 
that  great  platform  of  hills  on  which  were  built  many 
strongly-fortified  towns  occupied  by  a  large  and  thriv- 
ing jx)pulation,  some  of  whom  surpassed  the  Aztecs  in 
their  homes  and  in  their  luxurious  habits. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

THE  AZTECS  REBEL. 

THE  young  Tezcucan  chief,  Cacama,  so  keenly  re- 
sented the  degrading  position  occupied  by  the 
"  chief-of-men "  that  he  withdrew  to  his  home  in  Tez- 
cuco  and  refused  to  attend  the  meetings  which  the 
peace  party  in  the  council  held  in  the  Spanish  quarters. 
By  Montezuma's  advice,  it  was  resolved  to  see  what  could 
be  done  to  bring  the  young  man  to  terms,  as  it  was  found 
that  he  was  heading  a  conspiracy  to  unseat  Montezuma. 
Tezcuco  was  eighteen  miles  from  Mexico  by  canoe,  and 
thirty  by  the  lake-shore  path.  Cacama's  home  was  built 
partly  on  land  and  partly  on  piles  in  the  water,  and  so 
high  above  the  water  that  the  canoes  could  pass  under 
and  come  out  on  the  other  side. 

It  was  arranged  that  the  visit  of  the  council  should  be 
unexpected.  They  crossed  the  lake  under  cover  of  dark- 
ness, and,  gliding  under  the  dwelling,  the  whole  party 
made  an  entrance  by  an  unguarded  door  and  surrounded 
the  young  chief  before  he  realized  his  danger.  He  was 
quietly  bound  hand  and  foot  and  lifted  into  a  canoe, 
which  as  quietly  paddled  across  the  lake  to  Mexico. 
On  landing,  Cacama  was  put  into  a  litter  and  carried  to 
Cortez.  Other  arrests  were  soon  made,  and  a  successor 
chosen  by  the  council  was  installed  in  Cacama's  place. 

Montezuma's  weak  behavior  during  all  this  showed 

203 


204 


ABOUT  MEXICO. 


that  he  and  his  council  recognized  Cortez  as  a  master. 
Montezuma  was  soon  induced  to  acknowledge  himself 
a  vassal  of  the  king  of  Spain,  and  to  express  his  desire 
in  a  public  meeting  of  the  chiefs  that  all  his  people 
should  yield  to  that  monarch  the  obedience  which  they 


THE  VALLEY  OF 
MEXICO 


nad  once  paid  to  him.  "  This,"  wrote  Cortez,  "  he  said 
weeping,  with  more  tears  than  it  became  a  man  to  ex- 
hibit." All  the  chiefs  present  took  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  Crown  of  Spain.  A  Spanish  notary  wrote  an  ac- 
count of  the  whole  transaction,  which  account  was  sent 
to  Charles  V. 


THE  AZTECS  REBEL.  205 

This  unconditional  surrender  of  these  proud  warriors 
was  in  obedience  to  what  they  believed  to  be  a  decree  of 
the  gods — those  mysterious  beings  whose  will  was  the 
sum  of  Aztec  law.  The  same  deep-rooted  superstition 
led  them  to  make  a  further  sacrifice :  the  tribute  once 
paid  to  the  council  was  now  to  flow  into  the  Spanish 
treasury.  Tax-gatherers  were  seut  out  in  all  directions, 
coming  back  in  due  time  laden  with  treasures,  amount- 
ing to  more  than  six  millions  of  dollars  in  gold,  drawn 
from  every  place  subject  to  Aztec  rule.  The  secret  treas- 
ure-vault into  which  the  Spanish  carpenter  had  blun- 
dered soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  invaders  was  now 
thrown  open,  and  its  contents  were  divided.  After 
one-fifth  had  been  carefully  set  apart  for  the  king,  the 
remainder  was  distributed  among  the  soldiers.  But  the 
more  they  had,  the  more  they  wanted.  Murmurs  of 
dissatisfaction  had  been  heard  before ;  now  they  became 
loud  and  deep.  Suspicions  were  expressed  that  Cortez 
and  his  leading  officers  were  getting  more  than  their 
share  of  the  spoils.  It  is  probable  that  the  war  of  words 
would  soon  have  ended  in  bloodshed  had  not  trouble  arisen 
in  a  new  quarter. 

The  army  had  now  been  six  months  in  Mexico.  The 
Christian  worship,  which  they  at  all  times  upheld,  had 
been  so  far  performed  in  their  own  quarters.  But  the 
great  teocattis  near  by  was  a  perpetual  reminder  that, 
while  they  had  succeeded  in  treading  under  foot  the 
government  of  Mexico,  heathenism  was  still  flourishing. 
Possibly  human  sacrifices  were  not  offered  on  the  high 
altar— Cortez  declares  that  he  put  an  end  to  these  shortly 
after  he  came — but  the  hideous  rites  to  which  the  Aztecs 
were  devoted  no  doubt  went  on  as  before  in  other  parts 
of  the  city.  Soon  after  Montezuma's  formal  surrender 


206  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

he  was  informed  that  the  Christians  would  no  longer 
hold  their  worship  in  secret ;  they  must  have  the  use  of 
the  great  temple.  They  wished  to  erect  a  cross  on  its 
lofty  top  and  in  the  sight  of  all  Mexico  offer  adoration 
to  the  one  true  God.  Cortez  writes  that  he  then  went 
with  his  men  to  the  great  temple,  pulled  down  the  idols 
by  force,  cleansed  the  foul  and  blood-stained  shrines  and 
mounted  the  saints  therein,  administering  all  the  while  a 
solemn  lecture  on  the  sin  of  idolatry.  To  do  Cortez 
justice,  however,  he  made  quite  a  scriptural  statement 
of  his  belief  when  Montezuma  threatened  him  with  the 
vengeance  of  his  gods :  "  I  answered  through  the  inter- 
preters that  they  were  deceived  in  expecting  any  favor 
from  idols,  the  work  of  their  own  hands,  and  that  they 
must  learn  that  there  was  but  one  God,  the  universal 
Lord  of  all,  who  had  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth, 
and  all  things  else.  He  was  without  beginning  and  im- 
mortal, and  they  were  bound  to  adore  and  believe  him 
and  no  other  creature  or  thing.  I  said  everything  I 
could  to  divert  them  from  their  idolatries  and  draw  them 
to  a  knowledge  of  our  Lord." 

This  last  sacrifice  of  principle  was  too  much  for  the 
Aztecs,  who  had  borne  all  other  innovations  with  com- 
parative patience.  Even  the  meek-spirited  Montezuma 
told  Cortez  that  the  people  could  not  be  held  in  check 
much  longer ;  the  white  men  had  better  go  while  they 
could.  Cortez  received  the  chief's  suggestion  very 
quietly,  replying  that  he  was  quite  willing  to  leave  the 
country  immediately  but  for  one  thing :  he  could  not  go 
without  ships,  and  those  in  which  he  came  were  now  at 
the  bottom  of  the  sea.  Others  must  be  built,  and  of 
course  that  would  take  time.  Montezuma  answered  that 
if  this  was  all  that  hindered  the  Spaniards  from  going  he 


THE  AZTECS  REBEL.  207 

would  begin  shipbuilding  immediately.  Montezuma  gave 
orders  that  a  large  force  of  his  own  men  should  go  to  the 
coast,  under  the  direction  of  Martin  Lopez,  a  ship-car- 
penter who  accompanied  Cortez,  cut  down  trees  and  pro- 
ceed to  build  a  sufficient  number  of  ships  to  take  every 
Spaniard  to  his  own  land.  He  thought  that  with  this 
prospect  before  them  he  might  be  able  to  keep  the  people 
quiet  a  while  longer ;  if  not,  he  could  not  answer  for  the 
consequences.  Cortez  approved  of  this  plan,  and  the 
men  set  out. .  But  the  Aztec  discontent  which  made  this 
course  necessary  caused  many  gloomy  forebodings  among 
the  Spanish  soldiers.  The  strictest  watch  was  kept  day 
and  night;  every  man  and  every  horse  was  ready  for 
battle  at  a  moment's  notice. 

And  now  a  new  trouble  arose.  Cortez  was  waiting 
with  deep  anxiety  for  news  from  Spain.  His  long  letter 
to  the  king  had  never  been  answered.  He  had  hoped 
that  his  glowing  descriptions  of  the  new  empire  he  had 
conquered  for  his  master  and  the  rich  treasures  he  prom- 
ised would  turn  the  scale  in  his  favor  when  his  quarrel 
with  Velasquez,  the  governor  of  Cuba,  should  come  up 
for  settlement.  But,  so  far  as  he  knew,  the  court  had 
taken  no  notice  of  his  conquest,  and  he  had  reason  to 
fear  that  delay  was  caused  by  a  plot  in  Cuba  to  supersede 
or  punish  him.  One  messenger  after  another  had  been 
sent  to  the  coast  for  news  without  avail ;  they  were  keen- 
eyed  Indian  reporters  who  at  last  brought  tidings  which 
thrilled  every  heart  in  the  Spanish  quarters.  The  des- 
patches to  the  council  pictured  a  fleet  of  eighteen  ves- 
sels, eighty  horses,  nine  hundred  men,  ten  cannon  and 
about  a  thousand  soldiers.  They  showed,  also,  the  mes- 
sengers of  Cortez  imprisoned  by  these  new  comers. 

Montezuma,  who  told  the  news,  was  much  surprised 


208  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

when  Cortez  received  it  with  every  token  of  joy.  The 
soldiers  hurrahed,  the  cannon  thundered  out  a  salute  in 
a  way  which  thoroughly  perplexed  the  Aztec  chief.  But 
the  fact  that  the  Spaniards  were  divided  among  them- 
selves came  out  in  time,  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  which 
Cortez  made  to  hide  it. 

Angry  at  the  presumption  of  Cortez  in  securing  so  rich 
a  prize  for  himself,  the  Cuban  governor  had  sent  this 
force  to  take  him  prisoner  and  wrest  this  new  em- 
pire from  his  hands.  Narvaez,  the  commander  of  the 
fleet,  was  appointed  to  capture  and  supersede  him.  He 
landed  where  Cortez  first  entered  Mexico,  and  the  same 
Indians  came  flocking  to  his  camp.  It  was  soon  seen 
that  these  white  men  were  no  friends  of  the  conquering 
heroes  who  held  Mexico  in  their  iron  grip,  and  the  news 
had  been  discussed  in  secret  meetings  of  the  Aztec  coun- 
cil before  the  Spanish  soldiers  who  were  under  the  same 
roof  knew  anything  of  it. 

Hearing  about  the  garrison  at  Villa  Rica,  Narvaez 
sent  a  summons  to  the  commander  to  surrender.  The 
insolent  attacks  made  in  the  summons  on  the  honor  of 
his  general  so  provoked  the  trusty  Saudoval,  who  had 
charge  of  the  fort,  that  he  refused  to  allow  the  messen- 
ger to  finish  reading  it,  whereupon  the  envoy  grew  very 
angry  and  threatened  them  all  with  the  gallows.  San- 
doval  coolly  remarked  that  if  he  insisted  on  reading  the 
summons  he  should  have  an  opportunity  to  do  so  to 
Cortez  himself,  and,  turning  to  some  stout  Indian  por- 
ters, ordered  them  to  seize  the  envoys,  bind  them  secure- 
ly and  carry  them  like  so  many  packs  of  merchandise  to 
the  Spanish  general. 

News  of  this  strange  party  reached  Cortez  in  time  for 
him  to  give  them  a  proper  reception.  He  sent  orders  to 


THE  AZTECS  REBEL.  209 

have  them  immediately  released,  set  on  horseback  like 
true  Spanish  cavaliers,  and  brought  to  the  city,  not  in 
the  guise  of  enemies,  but  in  that  of  welcome  friends. 
He  kindly  apologized  for  the  rudeness  of  his  young  cap- 
tain, smoothed  over  his  quarrel  with  Narvaez  and  treated 
the  envoys  with  such  courtesy  that  the  friendship  became 
real  and  lasting.  His  efforts  to  gain  the  confidence  of 
JSarvaez  were  not  so  successful ;  the  latter  boasted  loudly 
that  he  would  arrest  Cortez  and  put  Montezuma  again  at 
the  head  of  his  people. 

News  of  this  threat  came  to  Cortez  at  a  time  when 
one  hundred  and  twenty  of  his  best  men  were  away  in 
the  South  planting  the  colony  he  had  planned  in  more 
peaceful  days ;  he  wrote  to  them  to  meet  him  at  Cholula. 
Then,  with  seventy  soldiers  and  unencumbered  with  his 
cannon,  he  started  for  the  coast.  There  were  foes  with- 
out and  foes  within  the  little  garrison  he  left  behind  him, 
but  his  greatest  fear  seemed  to  be  about  Moutezuma. 
What  course  would  he  take  when  left  to  himself?  Cor- 
tez told  the  chief  he  was  going  to  punish  a  rebel  against 
the  king  of  Spain,  and  exacted  a  solemn  promise  that 
during  his  absence  the  Aztecs  should  be  as  obedient  to 
Alvarado,  whom  he  left  in  command,  as  they  had  been 
to  himself.  Montezuma's  friendly  spirit  showed  itself 
by  an  offer  of  five  thousand  Aztec  soldiers ;  these  were 
declined  with  thanks.  With  the  little  force  at  his  dis- 
posal, Cortez  made  a  rapid  march  over  the  mountains  to 
Cholula,  where  he  found  friends  waiting  impatiently  to 
join  him.  The  captain  of  this  colonizing  expedition, 
Velasquez  de  Leon,  was  a  relative  of  the  Cuban  governor. 
Narvaez  had  made  a  great  effort  to  break  the  friendship 
between  him  and  Cortez,  and  his  loyalty  in  such  circum- 
stances gave  new  courage  to  the  anxious  general. 

14 


210  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

With  a  hundred  and  sixty-six  men  in  all,  and  that 
faith  in  himself  which  he  seems  never  to  have  lost,  Cor- 
tez  now  pushed  on  to  Tlascala,  and  from  thence  down 
over  the  shelving  mountains  to  the  lowlands  where  the 
enemy  lay  entrenched.  There,  in  a  raging  storm  whose 
noise  drowned  every  other  sound,  he  surprised  Narvaez 
at  Cempoalla,  wounded  and  captured  him,  and  then  set 
himself  to  the  task  of  winning  the  hearts  of  those  who 
had  crossed  the  sea  to  fight  him,  and  succeeded  in  turn- 
ing an  army  of  foes  into  friends. 

After  dismantling  the  vessels  in  which  they  came  and 
stowing  their  sails  and  rigging  at  Villa  Rica,  Cortez  was 
proceeding  to  secure  this  conquest  on  the  coast,  when  start- 
ling news  came  from  Mexico.  The  Aztecs  had  rebelled. 
The  garrison  were  in  a  state  of  siege ;  their  quarters  had 
been  undermined  and  several  of  his  men  had  been 
killed.  The  soldiers  of  Narvaez  expected,  when  they 
came,  to  go  to  Mexico  to  reinstate  Montezuma ;  they 
were  now  willing  to  go  with  Cortez  to  help  put  him 
down. 

The  troops  which  had  been  sent  away  on  expeditions  in 
the  neighborhood  were  recalled  in  hot  haste,  and,  leaving 
his  sick  and  wounded  at  Cempoalla,  Cortez  set  out.  The 
path  chosen  was  not  the  one  he  had  traveled  before.  The 
same  mountains  were  to  be  crossed,  but  he  entered  the 
valley  near  the  city  of  Tezcuco.  The  country  seemed 
to  be  deserted  by  its  inhabitants.  The  dark  forests  of 
cypress  and  pine  through  which  the  road  sometimes  lay 
could  not  be  more  lonely  than  were  some  of  the  hamlets 
he  passed.  As  the  troops  descended  the  mountain  they 
were  met  by  messengers  from  the  beleaguered  garrison. 
Alvarado  implored  them  to  hasten  to  his  rescue. 
Montezuma  wrote  to  say  that  he  had  kept  his  promise 


THE  AZTECS  REBEL.  211 

faithfully  and  was  not  in  any  way  to  blame  for  the 
rebellion.  Both  seemed  hopeful  that  quiet  would  be 
restored  when  Cortez  returned. 

Marching  around  the  southern  border  of  Lake  Tez- 
cuco,  Cortez  approached  Mexico  by  the  same  causeway 
over  which  he  rode  in  such  state  the  autumn  before. 
How  changed  the  scene  now !  The  silence  of  death 
brooded  over  the  waters.  Scarcely  a  sign  of  life  was 
visible  anywhere  till  he  reached  the  quarters  where 
the  Spanish  sentinel  aloft  in  the  tower  called  out  that 
the  commander  had  come.  "  They  received  us,"  says 
Cortez,  "  with  as  great  joy  as  though  we  had  restored 
their  lives  to  them,  which  they  already  considered  as 
lost." 

It  seems  that  Alvarado,  the  hot-headed  young  cavalier 
who  had  been  left  in  command,  had  attacked  the  natives 
during  a  month  of  special  religious  festivals,  and  that  six 
hundred  of  the  flower  of  Aztec  warriors  had  been  butch- 
ered in  cold  blood.  The  Spaniards  were  accused  of 
plundering  the  bodies  of  the  slain.  Alvarado  excused 
himself  to  his  angry  general  for  this  outrage  by  charg- 
ing the  Aztecs  with  a  plot  to  surprise  the  garrison  and 
murder  them  all.  The  story  may  have  had  its  origin 
with  the  Tlascalans,  who  no  doubt  longed  to  break  the 
friendship  between  the  Spaniards  and  their  own  lifelong 
enemies,  in  order  that  they  might  themselves  have  a 
share  in  the  spoils  of  war. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  occasion  of  the  out- 
break, the  long-pent-up  hatred  of  the  natives  had  now 
burst  forth  with  fury.  A  cry  for  vengeance  rang  through 
the  city.  The  people  attacked  the  garrison  with  mine 
and  with  fire.  Montezuma  pleaded  with  them  in  vain. 
At  last  open  hostilities  ceased,  but  the  markets  were  closed 


212  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

and  the  water-supply  was  cut  off,  in  order  to  starve  out 
the  Spaniards.  The  garrison  would  have  perished  bat 
for  a  little  spring  of  sweet  water  which  was  discovered 
oozing  up  within  the  enclosure.  Gloomy  as  was  the 
prospect,  Cortez  sent  a  messenger  the  next  day  to  Villa 
Rica  to  tell  of  his  safe  arrival ;  but  the  man  had  scarcely 
started  on  his  journey  ere  he  returned  covered  with  blood 
and  bruises,  saying  that  all  the  inhabitants  were  up  in 
arms  and  the  bridges  were  raised  to  cut  off  all  hope  of 
retreat  from  the  Spaniards. 

The  Aztecs  now  came  surging  up  with  wild  yells 
of  defiance.  The  house-roofs  could  not  be  seen  for  the 
masses  of  people  who  covered  them  and  darkened  the  air 
with  arrows  and  stones.  A  volley  from  the  guns  checked 
but  a  moment  the  crowd  in  the  street.  The  infuriated 
Aztecs  tried  to  scale  the  walls  upon  which  the  guns  were 
mounted,  but  were  beaten  back.  Firebrands  were  thrown 
among  the  Tlascalan  huts,  whose  thatched  roofs  burned 
rapidly ;  the  flames  seized  on  a  wooden  parapet  on  the 
walls,  and  it  was  necessary  to  tear  down  part  of  these  de- 
fences and  protect  the  breach  by  the  guns.  Night  put  a 
stop  to  the  contest,  but  the  Spaniards  were  busy  till  day- 
break making  what  repairs  they  could. 

The  Aztecs,  who  slept  on  the  ground,  close  to  the  walls, 
were  up  before  the  sun  and  with  fresh  recruits  renewed 
the  attack.  By  a  sally  from  the  garrison  they  were 
driven  back  to  a  barricade  they  had  thrown  across  the 
street.  The  Spaniards  cleared  this  obstacle  and  the  whole 
length  of  the  street  to  the  dyke,  the  Indians  disputing 
every  inch  of  the  way.  Every  house  was  a  fortress  from 
whose  roof  showers  of  stones  and  darts  were  hurled  on 
the  Spanish  coats  of  mail  in  the  streets  below,  where  a 
hand-to-hand  struggle  constantly  went  on.  It  was  soon 


THE  AZTECS  REBEL.  213 

necessary  to  fire  these  dwellings,  in  order  to  dislodge  the 
assailants.  This  was  slow  work,  separated  as  the  houses 
were  by  gardens  and  canals.  Thus  the  day  was  spent. 
Though  many  were  killed,  the  enemy,  with  unabated 
energy  and  fierce  war-whoops,  pursued  the  retreating 
Spaniards  to  their  citadel,  and  then  lay  down  again  close 
to  its  walls,  to  be  ready  for  an  onslaught  in  the  morning. 
All  their  old  character  had  returned.  The  Spaniards  at 
last  had  a  sight  of  the  traditional  Aztecs  hungry  for 
blood  and  desiring  no  greater  glory  than  to  die  a  war- 
rior's death.  On  renewing  the  attack,  if  all  the  men 
who  climbed  the  wall  were  killed,  others  pressed  eagerly 
forward  to  take  their  places. 

It  was  now  resolved  to  appeal  to  Montezuma,  who  sat 
sullenly  in  his  apartment  listening  to  the  wild  storm  out- 
side, raging  at  times  against  the  very  walls.  The  unhap- 
py chief  at  last  mounted  the  parapet  and  consented  to 
speak  to  his  people. 

"  They  will  not  listen  to  me  now,"  he  said,  sadly,  "  nor 
to  your  false  promises,  Malinche."  * 

It  was  even  so.  The  Aztecs,  stung  to  madness  by  the 
tame  surrender  of  their  chief,  refused  to  hear  him.  A 
shower  of  stones  was  aimed  at  him,  one  of  which,  strik- 
ing him  on  the  temple,  brought  him  senseless  to  the 
ground.  Three  days  afterward  he  died. 

This  account  of  Montezuma's  death  is  not  believed 
among  Mexicans ;  they  say  that  with  two  other  hostages 
of  note  he  was  slaughtered  by  the  Spaniards  and  his  dead 
body  thrown  over  the  wall.  Cortez,  who  speaks  very 
indifferently  of  this  event,  says,  "I  gave  his  dead  body 
to  two  Indians  who  were  among  the  prisoners,  and  they 

*  Malinche,  from  Malintzin,  the  lord  of  MeYina,  is  the  name  by 
which  Cortez  was  always  known  in  Mexico. 


214  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

bore  it  away  to  his  people.  What  afterward  became  of 
it  I  know  not." 

An  unsuccessful  attack  made  by  the  Spaniards  greatly 
encouraged  the  Aztecs,  who  now  advanced  to  the  teocallis, 
partly  occupied  by  Christians,  who  were  soon  driven  out. 
About  five  hundred  of  the  natives  took  possession  of  its 
top,  and,  laying  in  a  store  of  provisions  and  stones,  they 
prepared  to  fight  their  enemy  from  the  height  of  this 
building,  which  overlooked  the  Spanish  quarters.  It 
was  evident  that  this  fortress  must  be  taken,  and  the 
cavalry  made  a  charge  to  clear  the  way  for  the  infantry ; 
but  the  horses  slipped  on  the  smooth  pavement  and  were 
sent  back,  and  some  mail-clad  soldiers,  with  Cortez  at 
their  head,  succeeded  in  reaching  the  first  flight  of  steps 
leading  to  the  second  terrace.  The  whole  building  was 
three  hundred  feet  square  at  the  base,  and  the  path  to 
the  top  went  round  and  round  the  pyramid  by  five  ter- 
races, a  distance  of  nearly  a  mile.  Each  stairway  was.  a 
scene  of  fearful  conflict,  those  all  along  each  terrace  hurl- 
ing down  stones  on  the  heads  of  their  assailants,  who,  pro- 
tected by  sharpshooters  below,  were  forcing  their  way  inch 
by  inch  to  the  top.  Once  masters  of  this  commanding 
position,  the  Spaniards  set  on  fire  the  wooden  towel's 
which  surmounted  the  building,  tumbling  the  war-god 
found  there  down  the  steep  sides  of  the  temple.  Many 
Aztecs  flung  themselves  over  the  edge  of  the  platform  in 
sheer  despair.  A  great  effort  was  made  to  push  Cortez 
headlong  to  the  terrace  below,  but  he  was  stoutly  defended 
by  his  men,  forty-five  of  whom  lost  their  lives  in  this 
three  hours'  battle  in  the  air.  Not  an  Aztec  escaped. 

The  capture  of  this  strong  position  and  the  fall  of 
their  idol  struck  dismay  for  a  time  into  the  hearts  of  the 
Aztecs,  and  Cortez  now  called  for  a  parley.  The  chiefs 


THE  AZTECS  REBEL. 


215 


came  to  the  meeting-place,  but  the  summons  to  lay  down 
their  arms  met  with  a  calm  resistance.  They  answered 
that  they  were  determined  to  make  an  end  of  the  Span- 
iards if  they  all  died  in  the  attempt. 

That  night  Cortez  followed  up  his  advantage  by  burn- 
ing three  hundred  houses.    The  men  who  were  not  doing 


MEXICAN  TEOCALLI.  (From  an  old  drawing.) 
this  were  up  all  night  repairing  the  movable  fortresses 
under  cover  of  which  they  hoped  to  reach  those  on  the 
house-roofs.  But  6n  dragging  out  these  clumsy  machines 
the  next  morning  it  was  found  impossible  to  use  them. 
The  Aztecs  had  fulfilled  their  threat  of  destroying  the 
bridges  over  the  canals ;  the  Spaniards  were  now  obliged 


216  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

to  fill  up  these  water-ways  with  stones  from  the  razed 
buildings  around  them — a  work  on  which  they  spent  two 
days  under  a  galling  fire  of  stones  and  arrows.  After 
much  exhausting  labor  communication  was  opened  again 
with  the  western  causeway,  and  the  cavalry  went  back 
and  forth  over  a  solid  road.  It  was  the  only  path  to  the 
mainland,  the  Aztecs  having  broken  up  every  other  dyke. 
But  the  Spaniards  were  no  longer  penned  up. 

The  Aztecs  now  called  for  a  truce.  They  promised,  if 
they  were  forgiven,  to  raise  the  blockade  and  replace  the 
bridges.  Meanwhile,  they  requested  that  their  chief 
priest,  who  had  been  captured  in  the  storming  of  the 
temple,  should  be  set  at  liberty  to  lead  them  in  their 
negotiations.  This  was  gladly  done. 

There  seemed  now  to  be  some  prospect  of  peace,  and 
Cortez,  who  had  scarcely  eaten  or  slept  since  the  outbreak 
began,  sat  down  to  take  some  refreshment,  when  a  mes- 
senger cam£  in  hot  haste  to  say  that  the  Aztecs  were  at- 
tacking thevgarrison  and  that  several  men  on  guard  in 
the  street  they  had  cleared  had  been  killed.  Cortez 
sprang  on  his  horse  and  galloped  to  the  spot,  followed  by 
a  few  horsemen,  who  drove  the  enemy  right  and  left  into 
the  side-streets.  The  foot-soldiers  were  panic-struck  and 
did  not  follow  immediately,  and  by  the  time  they  rallied 
a  surging  mob  of  Indians  had  closed  in  behind  Cortez 
and  those  who  were  with  him.  Canoes  loaded  with 
warriors  swarmed  on  each  side  of  the  causeway,  which 
was  crowded  with  Indians. 

Turning  to  go  back,  Cortez  reached  the  bridge  nearest 
the  city,  but  found  that  it  had  been  shifted,  so  that  the 
horsemen,  pushed  from  behind,  had  fallen  in  the  chasm, 
which  was  far  deeper  here,  out  in  the  lake,  than  the 
shallow  canals  he  had  been  filling  up.  The  infantry,  amid 


THE  AZTECS  REBEL.  217 

a  storm  of  stones  and  darts,  were  dragging  the  draw- 
bridge back  into  position,  and  Cortez  was  lost  to  sight 
for  a  time.  A  rumor  spread  that  the  general  was  dead. 
Both  he  and  his  horse  reappeared,  however,  but  many 
another  brave  warrior  fell  that  day  to  rise  not  again. 

»  o 

The  Aztecs  were  once  more  masters.  They  held  four 
bridges,  while  the  Spaniards  held  four  others,  on  the 
western  causeway,  nearest  the  mainland. 

The  Spaniards  now  resolved  to  leave  the  city.  The 
soldiers  of  Narvaez  had  long  been  clamoring  to  go  to  the 
coast,  and  all  were  exhausted  by  ceaseless  efforts  by  night 
and  by  day  and  unnerved  by  the  seemingly  hopeless  char- 
acter of  the  struggle  with  a  foe  which  not  only  outnum- 
bered them  a  thousand  to  one,  but  which,  if  every  Aztec 
now  in  the  city  were  slain,  could  bring  a  still  greater 
force  to  the  attack  in  a  few  hours.  It  was  determined  to 
fall  back  on  Tlascala,  going  by  the  western  causeway, 
though  it  led  in  a  directly  opposite  direction.  But  it 
was  the  shortest  path  and  partly  in  the  possession  of  the 
Spaniards;  once  on  the  mainland,  they  would  make  their 
way  northward  around  Lake  Tezcuco,  and  finally  due  east 
to  Tlascala.  Cortez  gave  up  his  own  horse  to  carry  the 
king's  treasure,  but  by  far  the  largest  part  of  what  had 
been  gained  at  such  a  cost  was  left  behind,  though  a  few, 
more  greedy  than  the  rest,  loaded  themselves  with  spoil. 
A  son  and  two  daughters  of  Montezuma,  with  several 
leading  chiefs — among  them  Cacama,  the  fiery  young 
chief  of  Tezcuco — were  in  the  sad  company  which 
marched  out  of  Mexico  that  night.  The  most  import- 
ant duty  was  the  management  and  defence  of  a  pontoon- 
bridge  hastily  constructed  by  the  general's  orders.  This 
was  intended  to  span  the  chasm  in  the  causeway,  which 
had  been  again  uncovered  and  its  movable  bridge  de- 


218  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

stroyed.  When  the  entire  army  had  passed  over  this 
break,  the  bridge  was  to  be  taken  up  and  carried  to  the 
next,  and  so  on  till  all  the  breaks  were  passed. 

The  Spaniards  started  at  midnight,  July  1,  1520. 
The  night  was  dark,  and  a  drizzling  rain  fell  on  the 
silent  company  which  hurried  toward  the  only  path  of 
escape.  Most  of  the  dwellings  in  the  neighborhood  had 
been  destroyed,  and  there  were  no  priestly  watchmen  in 
the  high  towers  of  the  temple  to  give  the  alarm,  as  in 
olden  times.  The  Indian  sentinels  whom  they  met  were 
soon  silenced ;  the  bridge  was  laid  down,  and  the  army 
was  half  over  before  the  Aztecs  took  alarm.  Then  from 
far  and  near  they  came  after  their  escaping  prey,  hurrying 
through  the  darkneas  with  infuriated  yells.  The  Span- 
iards pressed  on  till  all  were  safely  over  the  first  opening 
in  the  causeway.  Then  to  lift  the  bridge  and  carry  it  to 
the  next !  The  men  plied  their  strong  pikes  in  vain ; 
the  heavy  timbers,  sunken  in  the  mud  and  pressed  down 
by  the  trampling  feet  of  the  fugitives,  could  not  be  lifted, 
and,  stunned  and  bleeding  from  the  stones  showered  upon 
them,  the  Spaniards  were  forced  to  abandon  the  bridge, 
over  which  the  Aztecs  now  crowded  with  wild  shouts  of 
triumph.  Pressed  by  those  behind  them,  attacked  by 
enemies  on  the  lake,  the  front  ranks  fell  into  the  yawn- 
ing breach,  spanned  only  by  a  single  beam.  Some  of  the 
horses  swam  over  with  their  riders ;  others  forded  a  shal- 
low place.  Many  were  dragged  off  the  causeway  and  car- 
ried away  to  be  slain  on  the  altars  of  the  war-god.  The 
chasm  was  soon  filled  with  struggling  victims  or  the  bodies 
of  the  dead  horses  and  men,  over  which  those  in  the  rear 
made  their  way  to  the  last  opening. 

In  such  peril  men  often  forget  everything  but  their 
own  safety,  but  in  this  terrible  night  the  Christians  imi- 


PUEBLO  OF   NORTHERN   MEXICO. 


220  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

tated  the  virtues  of  their  savage  foe,  who  at  all  hazards 
bore  away  their  dead  and  wouuded  from  the  field.  Those 
who  had  safely  passed  each  breach  rushed  back  to  save 
their  struggling  comrades  in  the  rear,  and  there  was  a 
rally  which  covered  the  retreat  of  the  shattered  remnant 
of  the  Spanish  soldiery.  But  fresh  Aztec  forces  came 
down  like  a  torrent,  and  the  Christians  gave  way  and 
swam  back  among  the  canoes.  Alvarado  was  unhorsed 
and  left  behind  surrounded  by  Aztecs  thirsty  for  the 
blood  of  the  man  who  had  caused  this  terrible  slaughter. 
Putting  his  long  lance  firmly  into  the  wreck,  he  vaulted 
over  the  breach  at  a  single  leap.* 

Cortez  sat  down  and  through  the  darkness  watched 
the  shattered  army  go  by.  Most  of  the  horses  were 
gone;  all  of  the  cannon  had  been  left  at  the  second 
bridge.  Not  a  musket  remained,  nor  a  man  who  was 
not  wounded.  Most  of  his  Tlascalan  allies  had  perished, 
while  scores  of  his  brave  cavaliers  had  for  ever  disap- 
peared beneath  the  briny  waters  of  Tezcuco  or  had  been 
dragged  away  to  slaughter.  But  Marina  was  safe,  and 
Aguilar,  Montezuma's  daughters  and  Martin  Lopez,  the 
old  shipbuilder,  with  Alvarado  and  others  of  his  trusted 
friends,  who  gathered  around  their  general.  It  was  now 
his  turn  to  weep,  and  the  tears  of  Cortez  were  long  re- 
membered by  those  who  know  the  anguish  of  his  soul 
that  sad  night  of  the  Spanish  retreat.  At  Tacubaya,  on 
one  of  the  avenues  leading  out  of  the  City  of  Mexico, 
a  gnarled  old  cypress  tree  enclosed  with  a  railing  stands 
almost  in  the  roadway,  and  marks  the  spot  where  Cortez 
stopped  to  rally  his  shattered  army  on  the  "  sad  night." 

*The  place  has  always  since  been  known  as  "  Alvarado' s  Leap;" 
it  is  near  the  western  extremity  of  the  Alameda.  The  lance  Alvarado 
carried  is  also  preserved. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

MEXICO  SHALL  BE  CONQUERED! 

THE  end  of  the  western  causeway,  where  it  joined  the 
mainland,  was  still  held  by  the  Spaniards.  Over 
this,  in  the  darkness  and  the  rain,  the  fugitives  pushed  on 
to  the  city  of  Tlacopan,  where  Cortez  found  them  huddled 
together  in  the  great  square  awaiting  his  directions. 

"  To  the  open  country  !"  he  called  out.  "  Hasten,  or 
the  Indians  will  be  upon  us  again !" 

To  get  away  from  the  terrible  house-roofs  was  the  gen- 
eral's first  aim.  But  who  knew  the  way  out  of  the  city  ? 
Now  in  the  van,  and  now  in  the  rear,  the  horsemen  kept 
the  Indians  at  bay  until  the  foot-soldiers  had  gained  pos- 
session of  a  large  temple  which  stood  on  a  hilltop  out- 
side Tlacopan.*  After  some  fighting  they  drove  out 
those  who  held  the  building,  and,  safe  for  the  present, 
kindled  a  blazing  fire,  dried  their  wet  clothes  and  dressed 
each  other's  wounds. 

All  that  night  and  until  dark  the  next  day  the  enemy 
gave  them  no  rest.  At  midnight,  guided  by  a  friendly 
Indian,  the  Spaniards  stole  out,  and,  leaving  fires  burn- 
ing, in  order  to  deceive  the  natives,  they  took  up  their 
line  of  march  for  Tlascala.  But  a  sentinel  gave  the 
alarm,  and  the  Aztecs  came  rushing  out  like  a  swarm  of 

*  Now  called  "  Montezuma's  Hill."  Upon  it  is  a  church  dedicated 
to  Our  Lady  de  los  Remedies. 

221 


222  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

angry  bees  all  along  the  road,  pelting  them  with  stones 
and  taunting  them  with  their  defeat.  What  with  their 
wounds,  the  horses  overloaded  with  disabled  men,  the 
entire  want  of  artillery  and  the  ceaseless  fighting,  this 
first  day's  march  was  not  over  nine  miles.  Their  road 
led  north,  around  several  small  lakes,  and  then  east 
through  a  mountainous  country  which  gave  the  Indians 
every  advantage.  Huge  stones  were  rolled  down  from 
the  heights  on  the  fleeing  host.  Sharpshooters  hidden  be- 
hind rocks  and  trees  let  fly  their  arrows  as  the  Spaniards 
dragged  themselves  along  or  strayed  into  the  fields  for 
an  ear  of  corn  wherewith  to  appease  their  hunger.  Fam- 
ine might  have  been  added  to  the  other  perils  of  the  way 
but  for  the  wild  cherry  trees,  then  in  fruit,  which  every- 
where grew  in  abundance.  So  many  of  these  hungry 
men  were  killed  that  Cortez  was  obliged  to  punish  strag- 
glers in  order  to  save  the  remnant  of  his  army  from  those 
of  the  relentless  enemy  who  hovered  around  them  like 
birds  of  prey. 

Two  nights  and  a  day  were  spent  in  camp,  to  rest  the 
wornout  men  and  horses.  During  this  time  crutches 
were  made  for  those  who  were  too  lame  or  too  weak  to 
walk,  so  that  in  case  of  attack  the  horses  wouk\  be  free 
for  duty.  Cortez  marched  with  his  men,  cheering  them 
on  with  his  own  unfailing  courage  and  that  faith  in  his 
own  mission  which  he  never  seemed  to  lose.  Most  of 
those  with  him  were  veterans  who  had  come  with  him 
from  Cuba.  The  recruits  he  gained  from  Narvaez,  being 
in  the  rear  in  the  flight  from  Mexico,  had  borne  the  brunt 
of  the  battle,  and  most  of  them  fell  on  that  "  sorrowful 
night."  The  poor  Tlascalans,  too,  were  nearly  all  gone, 
but  those  who  still  lived  pushed  bravely  on  with  their 
companions  in  arms,  seeming  to  forget  that  it  was  for  the 


MEXICO  SHALL  BE  CONQUERED!  223 

sake  of  the  white  men  that  half  the  houses  in  Tlascala 
would  be  in  mourning. 

In  one  of  the  skirmishes  by  the  way  four  or  five  Span- 
iards were  badly  wounded ;  among  them  was  Cortez  him- 
self. The  death  of  a  horse  at  this  time  caused  great 
lamentation.  The  general  says,  "  We  derived  some  con- 
solation from  the  flesh  of  this  animal,  which  we  ate,  not 
leaving  even  his  skin,  so  great  were  our  necessities."  In 
this  sorry  plight  they  traveled  about  fifty  miles  to  reach 
a  point  only  eighteen  miles  distant,  as  a  bird  flies,  from 
the  City  of  Mexico. 

About  a  week  after  the  retreat  the  troops  stood  on  a 
mountain-ridge  from  whose  height  they  looked  eastward 
over  the  vast  plain  of  Otumba.  It  was  the  place  called 
by  the  early  settlers  of  Mexico  Teot-huacan — "  the  habi- 
tation of  the  gods."  Here  were  built  some  of  the  largest 
and  oldest  pyramids  on  this  continent,  and  here  the  Aztecs, 
coming  from  their  distant  home  a  tribe  of  wandering  sav- 
ages, found  one  of  the  most  flourishing  Toltec  cities.  At 
the  time  when  the  Spaniards  stood  on  these  mountains  the 
ruins  of  this  nameless  city  were  strewn  over  the  plain, 
but  a  pyramid  almost  as  large  as  the  great  pyramid  of 
Egypt  was  still  standing,  crowned  with  a  temple  dedi- 
cated to  the  sun.  As  the  army  came  to  the  summit  of 
this  range  they  saw  what  well  might  strike  terror  to  their 
hearts.  Spread  before  them  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach 
was  a  mighty  host  arrayed  for  battle.  The  white  tunics 
of  the  common  soldiers  made  the  plain  look  like  a  field 
of  snow.  Gay  banners  held  aloft — each  the  ensign  of 
some  clan  or  tribe — showed  that  the  multitude  had  been 
gathered  from  many  parts  of  the  country.  They  were 
there  to  dispute  the  passage  of  the  Spaniards  to  Tlascala. 
"  We  thought  it  certain  that  our  last  hour  had  come," 


224  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

said  Cortez,  "  so  great  was  the  force  of  the  enemy,  aud 
so  feeble  our  own."  But  after  a  few  inspiriting  words 
from  their  leader  the  little  band  pressed  forward  as  it 
were  into  the  very  jaws  of  death.  The  enemy  closed 
about  them,  attacking  them  with  such  violence  that  the 
two  armies  mingled,  the  Tlascalans  being  so  scattered 
among  their  red-skinned  brethren  that  they  were  entirely 
lost  to  sight.  The  Spaniards  defended  themselves  in  little 
groups  of  four  or  five;  the  mail-clad  horsemen  dashed 
about  in  the  crowd  in  every  direction,  trampling  the  In- 
dians under  foot  and  throwing  them  into  confusion,  "  they 
being  so  numerous  that  they  were  in  each  other's  way  and 
could  neither  fight  nor  fly."  The  battle  lasted  nearly  all 
day,  and  probably  would  have  ended  in  the  total  defeat 
of  the  Spaniards  had  not  the  Indian  commander  fallen. 
A  great  panic  followed.  "  After  this,"  says  Cortez,  "  we 
were  somewhat  relieved,  although  still  suffering  from 
hunger,  until  we  reached  a  small  house  on  the  plain,  in 
which,  with  its  surrounding  fields,  we  lodged  that  night." 
From  this  point  could  be  seen  the  mountains  of  Tlascala 
— "  a  welcome  sight  which  produced  not  a  little  joy  in 
our  hearts,  since  we  knew  it  was  the  land  where  we  were 
going."  Yet  a  sad,  uneasy  thought  must  have  forced 
itself  upon  the  mind  of  the  general  when  he  recollected 
how  few  of  the  brave  Tlascalans  who  a  few  months  be- 
fore marched  with  him  so  willingly  to  Cholula  were  now 
returning  to  their  homes.  How  could  he  be  certain  of  a 
welcome  in  such  circumstances  ? 

It  was  scarcely  daybreak  when  the  army  set  out  for 
the  desired  refuge.  The  enemy  still  lingered  about  in 
such  strength  and  with  such  shouts  and  jeers,  and  some- 
thing harder  and  sharper  than  these,  that  the  Spaniards, 
although  considering  themselves  victors,  were  actually 


MEXICO  SHALL  BE  CONQUERED!  225 

hooted  out  of  the  country.  Entering  Tlascala,  the  in- 
habitants brought  provisions  to  them,  but  wanted  to  be 
well  paid  in  gold.  The  invaders  were  no  longer  con- 
querors who  could  demand  tribute  or  gods  who  must  be 
obeyed,  but  a  defeated,  fleeing  army.  They  stopped  three 
days  at  this  place  to  rest,  and  while  there  had  a  visit  from 
some  of  the  leading  chiefs  of  the  tribe.  Never  did  noble 
red  men  better  deserve  that  title — so  often  given  to  them 
in  scorn — than  did  these  Tlascalan  braves.  They  opened 
their  homes  to  the  strangers,  carrying  the  sick  and  the 
lame  in  litters  to  a  place  of  rest  and  dressing  their 
wounds  with  skill  and  kindness.  The  old  chief  Maxixca 
took  Cortez  to  his  own  home  and  gave  him  a  bedstead  to 
sleep  on,  with  clean  cotton  sheets  and  coverlets — a  luxury 
he  had  not  enjoyed  for  many  a  night.  He  lay  here  for 
days  tossing  with  a  burning  fever,  the  result  of  fatigue 
and  exposure  after  his  wound.  Many  of  the  soldiers 
died  here,  and  were  buried  in  the  campground  with  a 
rude  cross  to  mark  their  graves  as  those  of  Christian 
men. 

At  length  the  Indians  began  to  mutter  over  the  burden 
of  feeding  an  army  of  strangers.  Many  of  the  soldiers 
became  homesick  and  urged  Cortez  to  hasten  back  to 
Villa  Rica  to  look  after  their  brave  companions  there, 
who  perhaps  might  not  be  able  to  hold  out  in  case  of  a 
siege.  This  Cortez  determined  not  to  do.  He  was  even 
then,  after  all  his  disasters,  forming  plans  to  go  back  to 
Mexico  and  recover  the  prize  which  had  once  been  in 
his  grasp.  He  dared  not  trust  his  Spaniards  so  near 
the  ocean-path  to  Cuba. 

While  Cortez  was  debating  this  subject  with  his  men  a 
party  of  Aztec  chiefs  arrived  in  Tlascala  bringing  pres- 
ents, and  offering  peace  to  their  old  enemies  if  they  would 

15 


226  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

break  friendship  with  the  white  men  and  help  to  destroy 
them  all  while  disabled  and  in  their  power.  Some  of  the 
younger  chiefs  would  have  accepted  these  proposals  from 
the  Aztecs,  but  old  Maxixca  rejected  them.  His  scorn 
and  indignation  rose  to  such  a  pitch  that  he  forgot  the 
decorum  which  always  prerails  in  an  Indian  council,  and 
silenced  one  of  the  hot-headed  young  braves  by  turning 
him  out  of  doors. 

This  generous  sympathy  of  his  allies  was  a  great  en- 
couragement to  Cortez.  Shamed  by  the  loyalty  of  their 
Indian  friends,  almost  all  the  Spanish  soldiers  yielded  to 
his  persuasions  to  return  to  Mexico.  Their  first  step  was 
to  open  the  highway  between  that  city  and  the  garrison 
at  Villa  Rica  by  an  attack  on  the  Tepeacas,  a  tribe  who 
held  two  passes  through  the  mountains,  and  who  had 
murdered  a  number  of  Spanish  travelers  during  the 
recent  troubles.  Their  country  bordered  on  Mexico 
and  was  tributary  to  it,  and  their  Aztec  neighbors  were 
even  then  busy  among  them  stirring  up  a  war  with  the 
white  men.  In  the  battles  with  these  people  Cortez  took 
hundreds  of  captives  and  vast  spoil.  Men,  women  and 
children  were  branded  with  a  hot  iron  as  slaves  and 
divided  among  his  own  men  and  his  allies,  the  first  of 
many  thousands  of  human  beings  who  were  afterward 
thus  degraded  by  the  Spaniards. 

It  was  now  very  evident  that  all  the  Indians  of  Ana- 
huac  were  watching  the  struggle  between  the  Aztecs  and 
the  Spaniards,  ready  to  take  the  side  of  the  victor.  The 
crushing  defeat  of  the  Tepeacas  decided  many  of  them ; 
crowds  began  to  flock  to  the  standard  of  Cortez.  The 
star  of  this  bold  adventurer  was  now  in  the  ascendant. 
As  an  umpire  among  many  warring  tribes  he  settled  their 
quarrels  to  his  own  advantage,  and  in  a  short  time  built 


MEXICO  SHALL  BE  CONQUERED!  227 

up  a  great  kingdom  for  Spain  between  Mexico  and  the 
Gulf. 

The  Aztecs,  meanwhile,  were  busy  at  home  as  well  as 
abroad.  They  had  selected  as  "  chief-of-men  "  Guate- 
mozin,  an  Aztec  warrior  of  the  old  school  ready  to  die 
rather  than  to  yield  an  inch  to  the  invaders  of  his  coun- 
try. So  soon  as  the  failure  of  the  embassy  to  the  Tlas- 
calans  was  known  the  Aztecs  began  to  garrison  their  fron- 
tier, fortify  their  island-city,  mend  their  broken  dykes, 
replace  their  bridges  and  rebuild  their  temples  and 
houses,  whose  roofs  were  so  important  in  street-fighting. 
They  had  learned  much  by  experience.  New  instru- 
ments of  warfare  were  contrived,  in  order  to  defeat  the 
horsemen.  Spanish  swords  lost  in  thase  bloody  battles 
on  the  causeways  were  fastened  on  long  poles,  the  better 
to  reach  and  to  cut  the  horses,  which,  with  the  cannon, 
had  made  the  Spaniards  almost  invincible. 

With  the  road  to  Villa  Rica  clear  behind  him,  Cortez 
now  bent  all  his  energies  to  the  reconquest  of  Mexico. 
He  resolved  to  build  thirteen  boats  in  such  a  way  that 
they  could  be  taken  apart  and  carried  in  pieces  over  the 
mountains,  to  be  used  in  the  lake  in  the  siege  of  the 
doomed  city.  Martin  Lopez  was  put  in  charge  of  a 
large  force  of  Indian  carpenters,  and  the  woods  were 
soon  ringing  with  the  strokes  of  Spanish  axes. 

Meanwhile,  Cortez  sent  to  Cuba  for  all  else  he  needed 
to  carry  on  the  war,  but  before  the  men  and  stores  arrived 
he  had  twice  been  reinforced  by  the  crews  of  veasels  which 
had  been  sent  from  that  island  on  the  same  errand  which 
brought  Narvaez.  In  both  cases  Cortez  had  the  satisfac- 
tion of  enlisting  under  his  banner  men  who  had  crossed 
the  sea  to  carry  him  in  chains  to  Spain.  Another  large 
company,  which  came  to  plant  a  hostile  colony,  were 


228  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

shipwrecked  and  obliged  to  put  in  at  Villa  Rica  for 
repairs.  They  were  soon  persuaded  by  generous  treat- 
ment to  join  Cortez  in  his  expedition  against  Mexico. 
Thus  by  patience  and  kind  words  he  gained  one  hundred 
and  fifty  men,  twenty  horses  and  an  abundance  of  arms 
and  ammunition — all  from  his  avowed  enemies. 

While  Cortez  was  at  Tepeaca,  the  scene  of  his  recent 
victories,  a  messenger  came  to  the  camp  from  TJascala 
with  sad  tidings.  Maxixca,  the  old  chief  who  had  been 
so  true  a  friend  to  the  white  men,  lay  dying  of  small-pox 
— a  disease  of  which  the  Indians  had  never  heard  until 
the  Europeans  came — which  was  then  raging  fearfully 
throughout  the  country.  To  some  of  his  people  this 
affliction  was  a  fresh  reason  for  hatred  to  the  Spaniards, 
but  Maxixca  saw  in  them  the  children  of  Feathered  Ser- 
pent. He  believed  that  they  had  come  in  fulfillment  of 
ancient  prophecy  to  claim  their  old  possessions  and  to 
lead  him  and  his  people  to  the  one  true  God.  In  his 
last  hours  he  sent  to  Cortez  for  some  one  to  come  and 
teach  him  how  to  approach  this  great  Being  in  whose 
presence  he  soon  might  stand.  The  priest  Olmedo  came 
in  hot  haste,  and  found  the  dying  chief  with  a  crucifix 
before  him,  to  which  his  eyes  were  turned ;  his  old  idols, 
which  his  fathers  worshiped,  had  all  been  given  up,  and 
he  had  taken  this  instead.  It  was  all  he  had  learned  of 
Jesus.  In  an  age  when  the  Church  so  perverted  the 
truths  of  the  gospel,  though  not  so  much  given  to  the 
worship  of  the  Virgin  as  afterward,  it  is  good  to  know 
that  the  teaching  of  Olmedo  was  plain  enough  to  lead 
the  anxious  soul  of  Maxixca  to  his  true  Saviour,  so  that 
he  died  confessing  his  faith  in  "  the  Lamb  of  God  that 
taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world."  Four  other  Tlas- 
calan  chiefs  were  baptized  with  him. 


MEXICO  SHALL  BE  CONQUERED!  229 

Busy  with  his  preparations,  Cortez  did  not  come  to 
Tlascala  until  on  his  way  to  Mexico.  His  army  had  a 
royal  welcome  from  their  old  allies,  and  more  than  ever 
won  their  hearts  when  they  saw  that  every  Spanish  sol- 
dier wore  mourning  for  Maxixca.  Here  they  were  joined 
by  a  vast  horde  of  Tlascalans  more  eager  than  ever  to 
fight  the  Aztecs,  and  thousands  were  left  behind  to  bring 
the  boats  when  Martin  Lopez  and  his  men  had  finished 
them. 

Once  more  the  Spanish  army  climbed  the  mountain- 
walls  of  Mexico.  There  was  one  path  so  steep  and 
rocky  that  Cortez  thought  the  Aztecs  would  not  expect 
him  to  take  it,  and  by  this  he  resolved  to  go  and  surprise 
them  ;  but  the  next  day,  as  the  troops  descended  toward 
the  valley  from  the  bald  summit  where  they  had  en- 
camped for  the  night,  they  saw  that  trees  had  been 
freshly  cut  down,  blocking  all  the  way.  With  great 
difficulty  these  were  cleared  from  the  road,  and,  coming 
to  an  open  space  beyond  the  forests,  Cortez  halted  until 
his  men  came  up,  when,  with  what  seems  to  have  been 
true  devotion,  he  bade  them  all  join  him  in  thanksgivings 
to  God  for  bringing  them  once  more  in  safety  to  that  spot. 
Before  them  spread  the  beautiful  Valley  of  Mexico,  with 
its  fair  cities,  its  glittering  lakes  and  its  hamlets  em- 
bosomed in  trees.  Through  the  clear  air  rose  columns 
of  smoke  from  a  score  of  signal-fires.  Tezcuco,  at  their 
feet,  had  given  the  alarm,  and  from  point  to  point  the 
tidings  flew,  until  every  village  around  the  lake  knew 
that  the  dreaded  white  men  were  at  their  gates.  The 
Spaniards  saw  that  they  had  need  to  hasten  to  Tezcuco 
before  the  Indians  could  have  time  to  rally. 

It  was  from  this  great  city  that  Cortez  intended  to 
attack  Mexico.  Not  being  able  to  reach  it  before  night, 


230  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

the  army  halted  at  a  village  about  six  miles  distant,  whose 
inhabitants  fled  at  their  approach.  The  next  morning, 
December  31,  1521,  the  army  entered  the  almost  deserted 
place  and  took  possession  of  a  great  lonely  dwelling  large 
enough,  we  are  told,  to  have  held  all  the  Spaniards  pres- 
ent had  they  been  doubled  in  numbers.  As  no  one  was 
seen  in  the  streets,  some  of  the  soldiers  mounted  to  the 
top  of  a  tower  which  afforded  a  good  lookout,  and  saw 
the  people  fleeing  in  every  direction,  some  in  canoes  on 
the  lake,  and  some  on  foot  toward  the  mountains. 

While  Cortez  was  fortifying  Tezcuco  he  sought  in  every 
way  to  make  friends  of  all  the  tribes  within  his  reach. 
Most  of  them  profeased  sorrow  for  the  part  they  had 
taken  in  the  late  outbreak.  One  tribe  posted  watch- 
men on  the  mountains  overlooking  Mexico,  to  be  ready  to 
make  an  alliance  with  the  Spanish  leader  so  soon  as  sig- 
nal-smokes should  tell  that  he  had  come.  While  these 
people  wrere  in  camp  the  messengers  of  another  tribe  with 
whom  they  had  long  been  at  war  came  to  Cortez  on  the 
same  errand.  Hearing  that  they  were  unfriendly  to  each 
other,  Cortez  told  them  that  he  could  have  no  greater 
satisfaction  than  would  be  afforded  by  his  making  peace 
between  these  old  enemies.  His  object  was  to  unite  the 
tribes  of  the  valley,  in  order  that  they  might  help  him  to 
conquer  Mexico.  After  two  days  in  the  Spanish  camp, 
the  visitors  went  home  in  high  good-humor  with  each 
other  and  the  white  men,  and  determined  to  put  down 
the  Aztecs. 

Among  the  tribes  who  had  old  scores  to  settle  with 
Mexico  were  the  people  of  Chalco ;  their  alliance  with 
the  Spaniards  had  roused  the  Aztecs,  who  now  threatened 
to  punish  them.  Their  messengers  came  in  haste  to  ask 
for  help,  showing  on  a  large  white  cloth  a  map  on  which 


232  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

were  marked  a  number  of  towns  about  to  attack  them, 
with  the  roads  the  parties  would  take.  A  force  was  sent 
immediately  to  help  these  Chalco  allies.  The  wild  ravines 
and  mountain-fastnesses  now  resounded  with  the  din  of 
war  as  Cortez  made  a  circuit  of  the  valley,  leaving  be- 
hind him  a  track  marked  by  death  and  ruin. 

Martin  Lopez  now  had  his  boats  all  ready;  eight 
thousand  Tlascalans  had  been  detailed  to  bring  them  in 
pieces  on  their  shoulders  a  distance  of  fifty-four  miles. 
The  way  was  rough  and  steep,  leading  over  the  moun- 
tainous back-bone  of  the  continent.  This  procession  of 
porters  was  six  miles  long.  Besides  these  were  thousands 
of  armed  warriors  as  a  guard,  and  two  thousand  men 
loaded  with  provision  for  the  multitude.  AVhen  the  long 
procession  came  in  sight  of  Tezcuco,  Cortez  went  out  to 
meet  it.  A  salute  was  fired,  the  drums  beat,  the  bugles 
sounded  and  the  cheers  of  thousands  rent  the  air.  For 
six  hours  this  vast  fierce  multitude  streamed  into  Tez- 
cuco. Cortez  might  well  tremble  over  the  responsibility 
of  leading  an  army  which  were  not  only  savages,  but 
cannibals  with  a  thirst  for  Aztec  blood  which  was  no 
mere  figure  of  speech.  Before  the  war  was  over  he  found 
that  it  was  so  much  harder  to  hold  back  his  merciless 
allies  than  to  let  them  carry  on  a  battle  in  their  ordi- 
nary way  that  he  set  them  loose  to  ravage  the  country 
like  fiends  in  human  shape. 

Every  day  during  these  weeks  of  preparation  the  army 
increased  in  numbers.  The  Tezcucans  must  have  come 
back  to  their  beautiful  city  in  crowds,  for,  cold  as  they 
were  at  first,  they  rallied  under  a  new  chief,  a  grandson 
of  Hungry  Fox,  and  came  to  Cortez  fifty  thousand 
strong.  His  first  blow  was  struck  at  the  aqueduct  by 
which  the  City  of  Mexico  was  supplied  with  water. 


MEXICO  SHALL  BE  CONQUERED!  233 

The  water  was  brought  across  the  lake  from  a  spring  at 
Chapultepec.  After  a  desperate  conflict,  the  Spaniards 
succeeded  in  cutting  the  pipes  and  tearing  down  the  noble 
structure  on  which  they  were  laid.  Still  further  to  harass 
the  Mexicans  and  to  provide  their  own  camp  with  food, 
the  soldiers  went  out  and  reaped  all  the  grain-fields  with- 
in reach.  Two  divisions  of  the  army  approached  Mexico 
by  land,  while  others,  commanded  by  Cortez,  came  in  his 
brigantines. 

From  a  lofty  tower  in  the  city  of  Tezcuco  the  Spanish 
leader  had  watched  for  the  signal-smokes  which  should 
tell  the  dwellers  in  the  valley  that  the  siege  had  begun. 
The  Aztec  canoes  had  come  out  in  swarms  from  every 
town  and  village  around  the  lake.  Iztapalapa  had  just 
been  burned,  and  its  homeless  people  were  all  in  their 
boats.  Getting  in  his  brigantine,  Cortez  bore  down  upon 
this  fleet,  being  carried  along  by  a  strong  wind  that  was 
sweeping  over  the  water  at  the  time,  and  without  a  shot 
from  the  cannon  on  their  decks  hundreds  of  the  smaller 
crafts  were  crushed  like  eggshells  and  the  rest  chased 
back  into  the  canals  which  interlaced  the  City  of  Mex- 
ico. 

An  encampment  on  the  southern  causeway  leading  to 
the  city  was  the  end  of  the  first  day's  work.  The  In- 
dians made  an  attack  that  night,  but  were  quickly  re- 
pulsed by  the  brigantines.  The  next  morning  neither 
land  nor  water  could  be  seen  for  the  multitude  that 
poured  out  of  the  city,  "  all  howling  as  though  the  world 
had  come  to  an  end,"  said  Cortez. 

It  being  seen  that  the  canoes  had  come  from  the  side 

o 

unprotected  by  the  brigantines,  the  Indian  allies  were  set 
to  work  to  widen  every  sluiceway  through  the  dykes,  in 
order  to  allow  these  large  boats  to  pass.  Up  to  that  time 


234  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

most  of  the  lake  had  been  fenced  off,  but  in  a  few  days 
the  water-patrol  was  able  to  go  all  around  the  island-city 
and  assist  each  division  of  the  army. 

As  the  Aztecs  had  broken  up  the  bridges  over  nearly 
every  canal  in  the  city,  the  streets  were  full  of  ugly  gaps 
which  could  not  be  crossed  by  horse  or  foot  in  the  daily 
assaults.  The  friendly  Indians  now  filled  these  with 
bricks  and  rubbish,  and  strict  orders  were  given  that  no 
advance  should  be  made  except  over  a  solid  road.  But, 
as  the  Aztecs  were  busy  every  night  undoing  what  was 
done  by  day,  the  work  was  repeated  again  and  again. 

Alvarado  was  the  first  to  forget  the  warning.  Cortez 
saw  his  command  one  day  flying  back  in  hot  haste  and 
the  enemy,  like  dogs  in  full  cry,  pursuing  them.  In 
front  was  a  bridgeless  canal  into  which  the  whole  party, 
horse  and  foot,  were  driven.  In  the  attempt  to  save 
them  Cortez  was  dragged  off  his  horse,  and  would  have 
been  carried  away  in  a  canoe  had  not  several  of  his  men 
sacrificed  their  own  lives  to  save  the  life  of  their  general. 
Forty-five  Spaniards  and  a  thousand  Indians  were  lost 
in  this  battle.  As  the  survivors  retreated  to  the  great 
square  to  defend  themselves  against  the  yelling  throng 
which  pressed  upon  them  from  every  side,  faint  odors  of 
burning  incense  of  a  kind  only  used  in  sacrifices  came 
floating  down  from  a  high  tower  near  by.  Looking  up, 
the  Spaniards  saw  what  chilled  the  life-blood  in  their 
hearts.  Aztec  priests  were  dragging  several  victims  to 
sacrifice,  and,  from  their  white  skins,  they  knew  them  to 
be  their  own  fellow-countrymen.  They  saw  the  wretched 
captives  made  to  dance  before  the  idol. 

This  victory  was  celebrated  by  the  Mexicans  with  wild 
enthusiasm.  Drums  were  beaten  and  horns  were  blown. 
Messengers  were  sent  to  every  old  ally,  carrying  the 


235 

heads  of  Spanish  men  and  horses,  with  a  call  for  help  to 
drive  out  the  invaders  by  a  grand  rally  of  all  the  tribes. 
Whatever  fear  the  Spaniards  felt  at  this  crisis  they  kept 
to  themselves ;  their  savage  allies,  who  could  so  soon  be 
changed  into  savage  enemies,  knew  nothing  of  it.  Some 
friendly  tribes,  being  threatened  with  an  attack  from  the 
Aztecs,  sent  to  ask  help,  and  it  was  freely  given,  though 
the  Spaniards  had  to  be  divided  to  do  it. 

It  was  now  forty-five  days  since  the  siege  had  begun. 
Much  of  the  city  was  already  laid  waste.  Montezuma's 
house,  with  its  aviaries,  museum,  magnificent  summer- 
houses  and  lofty  corridors,  was  a  mass  of  smouldering 
ruins.  The  old  Spanish  quarters,  near  by,  were  also  torn 
down,  and  with  the  bricks  from  these  and  other  buildings 
the  Tlascalans  had  reared  barracks  for  the  Spaniards  and 
themselves  on  the  southern  causeway. 

At  a  council  of  war  to  which  the  allied  chiefs  were 
summoned  it  was  resolved  to  begin  on  the  outskirts  of 
Mexico  and  level  everything  to  the  dust,  filling  up  the 
canals  as  the  advance  was  made.  The  Aztecs  saw  this 
work  begin,  and  seemed  to  know  that  the  worst  had 
come.  They  tried  to  discourage  the  Tlascalans,  who 
pulled  down  their  houses,  crying  out  to  them  that  they 
would  have  their  trouble  for  nothing,  for,  whichever  side 
conquered,  they  would  have  to  rebuild  the  city.  But  the 
direful  work  went  on.  Even  Cortez  regretted  the  destruc- 
tion of  this  beautiful  city.  Seven-eighths  of  it  were  now 
in  ruins.  The  people  had  been  living  on  roots,  the  bark 
of  trees  and  rats,  without  good  water  and  surrounded  by 
dead  bodies.  Famine  and  pestilence  added  their  ravages 
to  the  terrible  devastation.  Women  and  children  wan 
and  haggard  with  disease  and  hunger  wandered  about 
the  ruins.  The  allies  were  charged  to  let  the  wretches 


236  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

alone,  but  the  Indians  knew  no  pity,  and,  although  for 
three  days  after  they  reached  the  heart  of  the  City  of 
Mexico  no  regular  fighting  was  done,  a  merciless  carnage 
went  on.  The  people  and  many  of  the  chiefs  would  have 
yielded,  but  Guatemozin  and  his  adherents  seemed  bent 
on  making  the  difference  between  Montezuma  and  them- 
selves as  striking  as  possible;  Guatemozin  would  die 
rather  than  surrender.  A  captured  Aztec  chief  sent 
back  to  him  to  treat  for  peace  was  killed,  and  the  mes- 
sage was  returned,  with  a  shower  of  arrows,  that  "  death 
was  all  they  wanted  now." 

The  truce  was  concluded,  and  hostilities  began  again. 
The  story  of  the  dreadful  days  which  followed  can  never 
be  fully  told — how  these  miserable,  starving  people  were 
hunted  out  of  their  hiding-places  to  be  shot  down  in  the 
streets  or  driven  into  the  water.  One  of  the  stratagems 
used  was  to  collect  into  one  great  basin  all  the  canoes 
that  could  be  found,  so  that  when  the  houses  were  at- 
tacked the  helpless  inmates  had  no  means  of  escape  across 
the  canals,  but  were  stabbed  and  drowned.  At  last  one 
of  the  brigantines  on  duty  in  the  lake — a  large  basin  in 
the  city — broke  through  a  fleet  of  canoes  which  had  gath- 
ered there,  giving  chase  to  one  in  which  was  evidently 
some  important  personage.  The  Spaniards  were  about  to 
fire  upon  the  party,  when  some  one  signaled  to  them  that 
the  "  chief-of-men  "  was  there.  The  master  of  the  brig- 
antines bore  down  upon  them  instantly,  and  Guatemozin, 
with  his  companions,  was  soon  led  into  the  presence  of 
Cortez,  who  was  on  one  of  the  housetops  near  the  mar- 
ket-place. "  I  made  him  sit  down,"  said  the  conqueror, 
"  and  treated  him  with  confidence ;  but  the  young  man 
put  his  hand  on  the  poignard  I  wore  at  my  side  and  en- 
treated me  to  kill  him,  because,  since  he  had  done  all  his 


MEXICO  SHALL  BE  CONQUERED! 


237 


duty  to  himself  and  his  people,  he  had  no  other  desire 
but  death." 

Thus,  on  the  13th  of  August,  1521,  ended  one  of  the 
most  cruel  sieges  recorded  in  history — the  first  experience 
which  the  heathen  of  this  New  World  had  with  the  so- 
called  Christians  of  Europe. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  HEEL  OF  THE  OPPRESSOR. 

A  GREAT  storm  broke  over  the  ruined  city  the  night 
after  the  surrender  of  Guatemoziu.  The  rain  came 
down  in  torrents,  as  though  the  pitying  heavens  would 
wash  out  the  awful  blood-stains  with  which  men  had 
polluted  the  earth.  The  streets  were  deserted  by  friend 
and  by  foe.  Only  the  dead  were  there,  lying  in  silent 
heaps  over  which  brooded  the  pestilence.*  More  than 
fifty-five  thousand  persons  are  said  to  have  perished 
within  the  city  by  sword  and  by  famine  in  that  siege 
of  seventy-five  days. 

Taking  with  them  the  captured  chief  Guatemozin 
and  all  the  treasure  which  could  be  found  after  a  most 
diligent  search,  the  Spaniards  withdrew  to  Cuyoacan,  a 
city  on  the  mainland,  not  far  south  of  Mexico. 

Cortez  had  not  secured  peace  for  himself  by  the  de- 
struction of  Mexico.  Envious  tongues  were  busy  against 
him  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  and  he  was  in  constant 
danger  of  arrest  and  recall.  More  than  once  directions 
were  sent  to  Mexico  to  hang  him  without  the  ceremony 
of  a  trial.  Admiral  Columbus,  a  son  of  the  great  dis- 
coverer, was  one  of  those  who  came  from  Cuba  to  put  an 
end  to  what  were  deemed  his  treasonable  designs.  In 

*  The  remnant  of  the  population,  at  the  request  of  the  conquered 
Guatemozin,  went  to  the  neighboring  villages  until  the  town  could 
be  purified  and  the  dead  removed  (Bernal  Diaz). 
238 


THE  HEEL   OF  THE  OPPRESSOR.  239 

spite  of  these  untoward  circumstances,  and  before  the 
smoke  of  battle  had  fairly  lifted,  Cortez  sent  out  explor- 
ing parties  to  continue  the  search  for  that  strait  to  the 
south  seas  of  which  all  Europe  was  dreaming,  and  with 
less  than  a  thousand  of  his  countrymen,  some  of  whom 
were  disloyal  at  heart,  he  proceeded  to  garrison  the  val- 
ley and  the  Gulf  coast,  and  to  subdue  the  outlying 
tribes. 

Among  those  who  came  to  pay  their  respects  to  the 
conqueror  were  the  Michoacans,  a  powerful  tribe  living 
about  two  hundred  miles  west  of  Mexico.  Warned  by 
the  fate  of  that  city,  and  afraid,  perhaps,  that  their  turn 
might  come  next,  they  hastened  to  become  the  allies  of 
the  great  lord  Cortez  claimed  to  represent.  He  received 
the  embassy,  which  was  headed  by  the  principal  chief 
himself,  with  the  honor  due  to  distinguished  visitors,  and 
by  way  of  entertainment  took  them  in  one  of  his  brig- 
an  tines  to  view  the  ruins  of  the  great  Aztec  capital. 
They  gazed  on  the  widespread  scene  of  desolation  with 
mute  wonder,  but  seemed  much  less  impressed  by  that 
than  by  the  running  of  the  horses  and  the  noise  made  by 
the  black  monsters  that  vomited  fire. 

These  people  told  of  a  great  sea  lying  near  their  coun- 
try, toward  the  sunset.  About  the  same  time  Cortez 
heard  of  another  large  body  of  water,  stretching  far  to 
the  south.  In  the  geographies  of  those  days  all  unknown 
lands  were  counted  as  islands,  and,  now  that  it  was  set- 
tled that  the  world  was  round,  men  were  continually 
looking  for  a  passage  between  these  to  "other  islands, 
rich  in  gold,  pearls,  precious  stones  and  spiceries."*  The 
report  of  these  Indian  visitors  therefore  received  imme- 
diate attention.  Explorers  were  sent  west  and  south 
*  Cortez. 


240  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

with  strict  orders  not  to  return  without  discovering  and 
taking  possession  of  these  seas  by  setting  up  crosses  along 
their  shores. 

Meanwhile,  it  was  necessary  to  plant  a  colony  some- 
where in  the  valley  to  secure  to  Spain  possessions  which 
had  been  won  at  such  a  cost.  There  seemed  to  be  no  bet- 
ter site  for  the  city  which  Cortez  proposed  to  found  than 
the  island  on  which  Mexico  once  stood,  and  no  better 
men  to  superintend  its  rebuilding  and  repeopling  than 
two  Aztec  chiefs,  one  of  whom  M7as  Montezuma's  son 
and  the  other  his  associate  in  office,  the  cihua-coatl,  or 
"  snake-woman,"  as  the  second  chief  was  called.  Al- 
though he  was  head  of  the  tribe  while  his  partner  was  in 
captivity,  Tihucoa's  name  does  not  appear  in  history  until 
the  great  tragedy  was  over,  and  then  only  as  a  taskmaster 
over  his  conquered  people  and  as  the  traitor  who  finally 
caused  the  death  of  Guatemozin.  So  vigorously  did  the 
work  go  on  that  in  October,  1524,  when  Cortez  wrote 
his  last  letter  to  Charles  V.,  the  new  city  already  con- 
tained thirty  thousand  householders,  a  fine  market  sup- 
plied with  all  the  old-time  luxuries,  beautiful  gardens 
that  fringed  the  lake-shore  and  dotted  its  broad  expanse, 
while  Christian  churches  lifted  their  towers  heavenward 
over  the  ruined  shrines  of  this  land,  still  overshadowed 
with  heathenism.  The  great  stone  of  sacrifice,  the  cal- 
endar, the  war-god,  and  numerous  other  relics  of  the 
former  life  of  these  people  which  could  not  be  destroyed, 
were  buried  in  a  deep  pit,  according  to  the  order  of  the 
conqueror;  these  were  all  dug  out  again  in  1790.  A 
large  convent  replaced  the  famous  House  of  Birds,  and 
on  the  site  of  Montezuma's  residence  arose  the  splendid 
palace  of  the  viceroys  of  "  New  Spain  of  the  ocean  sea." 
Cortez  had  a  fancy  for  long,  high-sounding  names,  and 


242  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

it  was  his  request  that  the  country  he  had  conquered 
should  bear  this  title.  Strange  to  say,  however,  though 
Mexico  rose  from  its  ashes  a  Spanish  city,  with  so  many 
radical  changes,  the  conquerors  never  seem  to  have 
thought  of  giving  this  place  a  Christian  name.  It  was 
at  first  Tenochtitlan — "  Stone-Cactus  Place ;"  now,  as 
though  to  show  that  it  was  as  truly  heathen  as  ever,  it 
was  called  Mexitli,  after  an  Aztec  god. 

Mexico  was  now  more  of  a  fortress  than  ever,  though 
it  did  not  cover  so  much  ground  as  formerly  it  had  done. 
All  the  canals  were  filled  up  and  the  streets  laid  out  wide 
and  straight.  Day  and  night  the  work  went  on  until  it 
was  completed.  Like  the  children  of  Israel  who  built 
the  cities  of  old  Egypt,  the  lives  of  these  Aztec  masons 
and  carpenters  were  "  made  bitter  with  hard  bondage,  in 
mortar,  and  in  brick,  and  in  all  manner  of  service  in  the 
field."  On  the  foundations  of  the  old  teocallis  rose  a 
great  cathedral.  The  Aztecs  had  boasted  that  human 
blood  and  precious  stones  had  been  freely  mingled  in  the 
mortar  of  their  temple ;  the  building  which  replaced  it, 
though  dedicated  to  the  Prince  of  peace,  cost  them  far 
more  in  human  life  and  treasure. 

In  time  nearly  all  the  country  known  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  sixteenth  century  as  Mexico  was  conquered 
by  Spain.  A  few  wandering  tribes  at  the  North  contin- 
ued to  defy  all  attempts  at  subjugation,  and  still  lived  by 
the  chase.  Village  Indians — who,  as  far  as  possible, 
have  maintained  their  old  laws  and  customs,  in  spite  of 
foreign  intruders — have  always  boasted  with  a  laudable 
pride  that  no  Spanish,  or  even  Aztec,  banner  ever  floated 
over  their  lands.  These  are  tilled  in  common  now  as 
then.  These  people  still  speak  their  old  dialects  and 
refuse  to  learn  any  other,  communication  for  the  purposes 


THE  HEEL  OF  THE  OPPRESSOR.  243 

of  trade  being  kept  up  by  a  few  men  who  act  as  inter- 
preters and  attend  to  the  business  of  the  tribe.  In  re- 
cesses among  the  mountains  far  to  the  south  are  tribes 
which  have  held  entirely  aloof  from  white  men,  whose 
very  existence  is  known  only  by  hearsay.  Many  others 
that  are  better  known  have  been  so  reduced  in  numbers 
and  so  broken  by  oppression  that  scarcely  a  trace  of  their 
old  character  remains. 

Some  who  took  the  wrong,  or  unfortunate,  side  in  the 
struggle  constantly  going  on  between  Cortez  and  his 
Spanish  enemies  were  punished  with  fire  and  sword. 
Many  a  chief  wras  hung  from  his  own  roof  tree  or 
burned  at  the  stake,  while  thousands  of  the  common 
people  were  branded  as  slaves  and  sold  to  the  highest 
bidder,  to  wear  out  their  lives  in  cruel  bondage. 

Poor  Guatemozin,  the  young  Aztec  "  chief-of-men," 
lost  his  life  in  these  contentions.  It  was  in  1525.  Cor- 
tez had  gone  to  Honduras,  a  journey  of  fifteen  hundred 
miles,  to  put  down  D'Olid,  one  of  his  captains,  who  had 
been  sent  to  the  south  on  a  colonizing  expedition  and  un- 
dertook to  set  up  for  himself.  Besides  his  Spaniards, 
horse  and  foot,  Cortez  had  three  thousand  Mexican  troops. 
The  wild  mountain-ravines  echoed  with  the  strains  of  mar- 
tial music  as  they  passed  along,  while  buffoons  in  gay 
attire  cheered  the  way  with  jest  and  song.  But  during 
this  almost  kingly  progress  through  the  land  food  and 
provender  gave  out,  and  the  whole  army  were  in  great 
peril  from  famine.  For  days  they  subsisted  on  grass  and 
the  roots  of  an  herb  which  burned  the  lips  and  the 
tongue.  The  poor  fool  who  rode  near  Cortez  was  the 
first  who  died.  The  Indian  guides  lost  the  way,  and  the 
whole  party  would  have  perished  in  those  pathless  forests 
but  for  the  mariner's  compass  which  Cortez  always  car- 


244  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

ried.  The  army  became  so  disorganized  that  each  man 
foraged  for  himself.  Sandoval,  the  faithful  friend  of 
Cortez,  was  obliged  to  go  out  at  night  to  procure  food  for 
him,  for  his  rations  were  stolen  constantly.  It  is  said  of 
the  Mexicans  that  from  the  chiefs  down  they  fared  much 
better,  as  they  kidnapped  unwary  natives  in  villages 
through  which  they  passed  and  had  some  cannibal  feasts 
until  Cortez  heard  of  it  and  put  an  end  to  their  orgies. 

In  this  state  of  affairs  the  Aztec  chief  who  rebuilt 
Mexico  came  to  Cortez  with  the  story  of  an  Aztec  plot 
to  reinstate  Guatemozin  in  his  chieftainship.  At  no 
time  since  the  conquest  had  there  been  a  better  opportunity 
for  revolt ;  the  city  was  weakly  guarded  and  the  garrison 
was  a  house  divided  against  itself.  The  informer  showed 
Cortez  pictures  of  those  who  led  the  conspirators ;  they 
were  Guatemozin  and  his  friend,  the  chief  of  Tlacopan. 
They  were  both  seized  immediately  and  examined  sepa- 
rately, and  after  a  short  trial,  with  dubious  proofs  of 
guilt,  both  were  hung  by  the  roadside  on  a  great  ceyba 
tree.  The  people,  seeing  Cortez  in  his  tent  studying  his 
chart  and  compass,  concluded  that  he  was  a  magician,  and 
that  the  trembling  little  needle  he  so  anxiously  watched 
had  been  telling  him  the  secrets  of  hearts.  Some  of 
them,  afraid  for  their  own  lives,  came  to  him  and  begged 
him  to  look  again  at  the  strange  oracle  and  ask  it  if  they 
were  not  true  friends  to  the  white  man.  It  is  needless  to 
say  that  Cortez  improved  this,  as  he  did  all  other  oppor- 
tunities, to  establish  his  character  of  a  teule,  or  god.* 

The  subjugation  of  the  tribes  of  Mexico  was  not  ac- 
complished until  the  Spaniards  had  swept  the  land  as 
with  a  besom  of  destruction.  Cities  were  depopulated 

*  The  Spaniards  were  known  as  teules,  or  gods,  long  after  they  were 
found  to  be  like  other  men. 


THE  HEEL  OF  THE  OPPRESSOR.  245 

and  leveled  to  the  earth,  the  mountains  denuded  of  their 
forests,  streams  and  lakes  dried  up,  the  farms  laid  waste, 
and  those  of  the  people  who  escaped  the  awful  havoc  of 
war  were  driven  into  hopeless  slavery.  The  bishop  of 
Chiapas  affirms  that  fifteen  million  out  of  the  thirty  mil- 
lion found  by  the  Spaniards  on  entering  the  country  had 
been  cut  off  before  the  land  had  been  quieted  in  that 
mental  and  moral  death  which  followed  the  conquest. 
Well  may  historians  call  this  "  one  unspeakable  outrage, 
one  unutterable  ruin  "  ! 

The  priests  who  accompanied  the  army  of  zealots 
which  overran  the  country  seem  from  the  first  to  have 
counseled  more  gentle  measures,  but  all  alike  were  bent 
on  forcing  the  conquered  race  into  obedience  to  the  pope. 
They  had  come  to  wipe  out  paganism  and  drive  the  peo- 
ple like  a  flock  of  frightened  sheep  into  the  fold  of  the 
true  Church.  When  they  saw  the  picture-writings  of 
the  Aztecs  and  the  sculptured  walls  of  their  temples,  it 
was  decided  that  all  such  heathenish  rubbish  must  be  put 
out  of  sight  as  soon  as  possible.  Thousands  of  carefully- 
written  books  were  therefore  piled  up  and  burned,  and  as 
far  as  possible  everything  which  reminded  the  people  of 
their  ancient  faith  was  destroyed,  unless,  as  was  often  the 
case,  it  could  be  furbished  up  and  adopted  by  the  Church. 
Without  waiting  to  understand  enough  of  the  language 
to  communicate  an  idea  in  words,  they  baptized  the  na- 
tives in  crowds.  One  priest  boasted  that  he  had  converted 
and  brought  into  the  Church  from  ten  to  fifteen  thousand 
in  a  single  day.  So  superficial  was  the  work  that, 
although  Mexico  became  one  of  the  most  faithful  and 
intolerant  upholders  of  Rome,  so  much  of  the  ancient 
idolatry  remained  that  to  this  day  intelligent  defenders 
of  the  papacy  visiting  Mexico  blush  for  shame  at  what 


246  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

they  may  well  call  a  paganized  Christianity.  In  many 
cases  the  same  idol  has  served  for  both  forms  of  idolatry 
when  reclothed,  renamed  and  well  sprinkled  with  holy 
water.  Tomantzin  —  "Our  Mother"  —  was  once  wor- 
shiped by  crowds  in  the  veiy  spot  now  sacred  to  the  Vir- 
gin of  Guadalupe,  the  tutelar  divinity  of  Mexico. 

The  land  must  have  been  full  of  idols.  The  Francis- 
cans boasted  that  in  eight  years  they  had  broken  twenty 
thousand  images.  On  a  high  mountain  in  Miztec  one 
of  the  Dominican  friars  found  a  little  idol  called  "  the 
Heart  of  the  People."  It  was  a  beautiful  emerald  four 
inches  long  and  two  wide,  engraved  with  snakes  and 
other  sacred  devices.  Knowing  its  great  value  as  a  gem, 
a  Spanish  cavalier  tried  to  buy  it,  but  the  pious  friar  was 
horror-struck  at  the  idea,  and,  proceeding  with  what  he 
considered  his  duty,  he  ground  it  to  powder  and  strewed 
it  to  the  winds. 

In  this  respect  the  early  Fathers  were  a  great  contrast 
to  those  who  followed  them.  One  of  the  first  acts  of 
Cortez  as  governor-general  had  been  to  propose  a  plan 
for  the  conversion  of  the  Indians,  and  one  of  its  prime 
requisites,  in  his  opinion,  was  that  no  prelate  or  bishop 
should  be  sent  to  New  Spain,  since  the  first  object  of  such 
officials  would  be  to  make  money.  "  They  will  use,"  he 
says,  "the  estates  of  the  Church  in  pageants  and  other 
foolish  matters,  and  bestow  rights  of  inheritance  on  their 
sons  or  relatives."  He  told  the  king  very  plainly  that 
if  the  Indians  had  an  opportunity  to  compare  the  honest, 
moral  lives  of  their  old  priests  with  those  led  by  the  cor- 
rupt dignitaries  of  Rome  it  would  be  worse  for  the  latter : 
"  If  they,  the  pagans,  understood  that  these  were  the 
ministers  of  God  who  were  indulging  in  vicious  habits, 
as  is  the  case  in  these  days  in  Spain,  it  would  lead  them 


THE  HEEL   OF  THE  OPPRESSOR.  247 

to  undervalue  our  faith  and  treat  it  with  derision,  and  all 
the  preachers  in  the  world  would  not  be  able  to  counter- 
act the  mischief  arising  from  this  source." 

On  May  13,  1524,  there  landed  at  San  Juan  de  Ulua 
a  company  of  twelve  Franciscan  friars,  sent  to  Mexico, 
in  response  to  the  original  call  of  Cortez,  for  the  purpose 
of  converting  the  Indians.  These  monks  fully  realized 
what  was  asked  of  them,  and  became  not  only  the  spir- 
itual advisers,  but  actually  the  material  protectors,  of 
the  Indians.  They  taught  the  Indians  to  work.  Among 
the  many  missions  established  by  them  amidst  these  peo- 
ple, those  of  the  west  coast  were  both  financially  and  spir- 
itually the  most  successful.  The  first  white  settlers  in 
California  were  Franciscan  monks.  They  found  there 
a  less  warlike  and  energetic  people  than  those  in  the 
Valley  of  Mexico,  and  trained  them  to  habits  of  indus- 
try and  devotion.  Substantial  churches  and  mission- 
buildings  soon  arose  in  the  wilderness,  about  which 
clustered  the  little  adobe  villages  surrounded  by  fields 
and  orchards.  The  only  roads  for  many  years  to  be 
found  in  the  country  were  those  between  these  stations. 
Many  of  these  missions  became  very  rich.  At  the  be- 
ginning of  the  last  century  the  Franciscan  monks  of 
California  owned  immense  tracts  of  land  and  carried  on 
a  thriving  business  with  Russian  merchants  from  the  far 
North-west  in  wine  and  wool,  hides  and  tallow.  In  this 
way  Spain  was  able  to  claim  as  her  own  the  whole  Pacific 
coast  as  far  as  Puget  Sound.  The  Indian  converts  were 
patient,  docile  children  whose  prayers  to  the  Virgin  and 
the  saints  led  their  hearts  into  ways  so  old  and  familiar 
that  but  little  violence  was  done  to  their  feelings  in  the 
change  from  one  religion  to  the  other.  When  from  any 
failure  or  from  removal  these  Indians  were  left  to  them- 


248  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

selves,  they  relapsed  into  barbarism.  They  held  their 
lands  again  in  common  and  as  far  as  possible  kept  up 
their  old  tribal  organization.  These  divisions  were 
known  even  among  those  who  had  been  under  the  heel 
of  the  oppressor  for  generations.  They  often  elected  a 
chief  whose  only  privilege  was  to  serve  as  a  taskmaster 
over  his  people.  A  hardy  and  industrious  race,  they 
cling  tenaciously  to  the  homes  and  the  habits  of  their 
forefathers  in  spite  of  the  most  stringent  laws,  by  which 
their  masters  strove  to  mingle  the  tribes.  Thirty-five  of 
these  tribes  are  known  to  have  survived  the  conquest. 
Many  of  them  inhabit  the  same  villages,  speak  the  same 
dialect,  work  at  the  same  business  and  with  the  same  rude 
tools  as  those  which  their  ancestors  used  generations  ago. 
Loyal  as  they  may  be  to  the  corrupt  religion  which  was 
forced  upon  them,  many  in  remote  and  isolated  places  are 
looking  for  Montezuma  to  return,  confusing  him,  no 
doubt,  with  Feathered  Serpent,  in  whom  their  fathers 
so  vainly  trusted.  The  revolt  of  the  Zapotecs  in  1550 
was  due  to  this  hope.  We  are  told  that  the  sacred  fire 
which  once  glowed  on  Aztec  altars  is  still  kept  burning 
in  hidden  caves,  and  of  Indian  boys  whose  solemn  chants 
morning  and  evening  toward  the  rising  and  setting  sun 
tell  of  heathen  superstitions  which  have  survived  three 
hundred  years  of  Romish  teaching.*  This  last  beautiful 

*  In  1847,  Brantz  Mayer  writes:  "While  at  the  hacienda  of  Ta- 
mise,  near  Cuernavaca,  he  pointed  out  to  us  the  site  of  an  Indian 
village  at  the  distance  of  three  leagues,  the  inhabitants  of  which  are 
almost  in  their  native  state.  They  do  not  permit  the  visits  of  white 
men,  and,  numbering  more  than  three  thousand,  they  come  out  in 
delegations  to  work  on  the  haciendas,  being  governed  at  home  by 
their  own  magistrates,  and  employ  a  Catholic  priest  to  shrive  them 
of  their  sins  once  a  year;  they  earn  their  wages,  make  their  own 
clothes  of  cotton  and  skins,  and  raise  corn  and  beans  for  food." 


CHURCH   OF   TEOTIHUACAN,   MEXICO. 


250  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

custom  was  adopted  by  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  might 
have  carried  many  Indian  hearts  heavenward  in  true  de- 
votion had  the  hymns  or  the  prayers  been  written  in  a 
language  the  natives  could  understand.  It  is  through 
these  simple,  ignorant  people  that  the  Church  party  has 
always  maintained  its  hold  on  Mexico.  The  Indians 
seem  to  be  grateful  for  the  protection  given  to  them 
in  earlier  years  by  those  priests  who  had  devoted  their 
lives  for  the  good  of  the  children  of  the  soil. 

The  frightful  oppressions  of  the  Indians  by  the  colo- 
nists were  for  many  years  combated  by  the  monks. 
When  Charles  V.  changed  the  form  of  colonial  gov- 
ernment to  that  of  an  audiencia,  the  president  and  four 
councilmen  who  composed  the  body  seem  to  have  vied 
with  each  other  in  keeping  up  the  pomp  and  ceremony 
of  court-life,  and  the  labors  of  the  Indians  in  building 
their  palaces  and  in  bringing  provisions  for  their  luxu- 
rious establishments  were  greatly  increased.  In  six  or 
eight  months  one  hundred  and  thirteen  persons,  men  and 
women,  died  from  exposure  in  carrying  burdens  from  dis- 
tant mines  and  fields  and  gardens  through  the  snow  and 
rain  of  those  bleak  uplands.  The  monks,  who  always 
sided  with  the  Indians,  thundered  from  the  pulpit  and 
the  confessional,  aiming  especially  at  the  auditors,  whose 
sumptuous  works  were  carried  on  at  such  a  sacrifice  of 
human  life.  The  audiencia,  in  revenge  for  some  of  the 
plain  sermons  of  the  first  bishop  of  Mexico,  cut  off  his 
support.  He  retaliated  by  excommunicating  the  audi- 
encia. In  1530  a  great  junta,  or  council,  was  held  in 
Spain,  to  consider  the  important  questions  arising  out 
of  the  relations  between  the  colonists  and  their  serfs ;  for 
such  they  truly  were.  The  decision  was  unanimously  in 
favor  of  the  Indians. 


THE  HEEL  OF  THE  OPPRESSOR.      251 

Of  the  priests,  none  were  more  faithful  friends  to  the 
natives  than  was  the  philanthropist  Las  Casas.  While  a 
young  man  residing  in  Cuba  his  attention  had  been  called 
to  their  wrongs.  His  Dominican  confessor  had  decided 
that  his  sins  could  not  be  forgiven  while  he  owned  Indians. 
With  his  eyes  thus  opened,  Las  Casas  began  to  preach 
against  his  brother-slaveholders.  He  finally  saw  it  to 
be  his  duty  to  go  to  Spain  to  plead  the  cause  of  the  In- 
dians with  the  king  himself.  It  seems  that  while  Charles 
V.  was  yet  a  boy  his  heart  had  been  touched  by  the  stories 
related  to  him  by  Las  Casas,  who  had  been  to  America 
with  Columbus  in  1494.  Las  Casas  determined  to  use 
his  influence  with  the  king  in  behalf  of  the  oppressed  peo- 
ple of  Cuba  and  other  islands,  who  were  melting  away. 

Las  Casas  became  a  priest  in  order  to  preach  the  gos- 
pel to  the  Indians  and  humanity  to  their  oppressors. 
He  had  a  friend  in  Cuba  to  whom  he  applied  for  money 
to  enable  him  to  carry  out  this  noble  aim.  To  his  sur- 
prise, he  found  that  the  eyes  of  his  friend,  Reuteria,  had 
also  been  opened,  and  that  he  was  preparing  at  that  very 
time  to  go  to  Spain  on  the  same  errand.  After  confer- 
ring together,  however,  it  was  decided  that,  since  they 
were  both  so  poor,  Reuteria  should  mortgage  his  farm 
and  Las  Casas  should  sell  his  horse,  and  that  all  they 
both  could  raise  should  be  spent  by  the  latter  in  a  trip  to 
Spain.  While  there  he  gained  new  light  on  the  avarice 
and  tyranny  of  the  Spanish  colonists.  The  facts  were 
so  disheartening  that  he  was  afraid  to  speak  all  his  mind 
to  the  all-powerful  Cardinal  Xiuienes,  with  whom  he 
consulted  about  the  wrongs  of  the  Indians.  But  one  day 
he  asked, 

"  With  what  justice  can  these  things  be  done,  whether 
the  Indians  are  free  or  not?" 


252  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

Xiraenes  exclaimed, 

"  With  no  justice!  What !  are  they  not  free".'  Who 
doubts  about  their  being  free  ?" 

It  was  while  such  discussions  as  these  were  going  on 
that  the  planters  bethought  themselves  that  the  negroes 
of  Africa  might  replace  the  Indians.  While  Charles  V. 
was  in  Germany  he  was  besieged  with  petitions  to  grant 
licenses  for  the  importation  of  Africans  to  till  the  depop- 
ulated soil  of  the  West  Indies  and  of  other  Spanish  colo- 
nies. Ximenes  protested,  and  twelve  times  daring  fifty 
years  Las  Casas  crossed  the  sea  on  his  philanthropic 
errands,  but  in  vain. 

One  of  the  earliest  effects  of  the  discovery  of  America 
was  a  division  of  its  lands  (repor&mteitfoft)  among  the  set- 
tlers from  the  Old  World.  In  1497  a  patent  was  granted 
to  Christopher  Columbus  authorizing  him  to  divide  the 
newly-discovered  countries  among  his  followers.  It  was 
his  decision  that  "  the  natives  should  till  the  soil  for  the 
benefit  of  those  who  hold  them."  Little  did  this  good 
man  think  of  the  inheritance  of  shame  and  sorrow  he 
was  preparing  for  his  countrymen  and  their  victims  in 
lands  he  had  never  seen. 

At  first  the  Spaniards  had  only  a  life-estate  in  the 
serfs ;  next,  the  owner  had  the  right  to  the  service  of  a 
man  and  his  son,  and  finally  the  natives  were  doomed  to 
unending  servitude.  They  could  be  taken  from  place  to 
place  at  their  master's  pleasure,  with  such  wages  as  he 
chose  to  give  or  with  none  at  all.  These  removals  were 
the  sorest  trial  the  village  Indians  could  endure.  To  be 
torn  from  the  lands  their  forefathers  had  tilled,  to  work  in 
mines  for  life,  and  to  be  compelled  to  labor  on  farms  when 
they  had  been  trained  at  the  loom,  were  alike  irksome  to 
these  creatures  of  custom.  Not  only  toil,  but  tribute, 


THE  HEEL   OF  THE  OPPRESSOR.  253 

was  exacted.  Every  male  over  fourteen  was  obliged  at 
appointed  times  to  bring  a  little  packet  or  quill  of  gold- 
dust  if  he  lived  near  to  or  worked  in  a  mine  ;  or  if  he  had 
no  gold,  he  paid  tribute  in  cotton. 

After  several  experiments,  the  government  of  Mexico 
and  of  other  Spanish  colonies  in  the  West  was  confided  to 
the  "  council  of  the  Indies/'  a  body  of  men  appointed  by 
the  king  and  nominally  responsible  to  him.  This  council 
was  represented  in  New  Spain  by  a  viceroy,  who,  with 
the  old  audierwia  for  his  counselors,  was  absolute  enough 
for  a  real  monarch.  There  had  been  so  much  difficulty 
in  ruling  through  persons  of  inferior  rank,  like  the 
audiencia,  that  it  was  decided  to  put  a  man  over  them 
with  "that  divinity  which  doth  hedge  a  king,"  that  he 
might  stand  between  the  natives  and  the  crowd  of  money- 
making  adventurers  who  were  flocking  to  America.  Of 
the  sixty-four  viceroys  who  reigned  in  Mexico,  several 
seem  to  have  befriended  the  downtrodden  race  over 
whom  they  were  placed.  The  second  of  these  rulers 
declared  that  "justice  to  the  Indians  was  of  more  im- 
portance than  all  the  mines  in  the  world,  and  that  the 
revenues  they  yielded  to  the  Spanish  Crown  were  not  of 
such  a  character  that  all  human  and  divine  laws  were 
to  be  sacrificed  in  order  to  obtain  them." 

During  the  reign  of  Mendoza,  the  first  viceroy,  the 
Indians,  grown  desperate  with  their  manifold  wrongs, 
rose  in  their  first  formidable  rebellion  since  the  death  of 
Guatemozin.  The  old  names  of  Tlascala,  Cholula  and 
Tezcuco  gleam  out  as  of  old  in  the  records  of  these 
stormy  days,  although  in  the  guise  of  serfs  one  scarcely 
recognizes  the  proud  warriors  of  twenty  years  before. 
Up  to  that  time  their  chiefs  still  wore  their  old  insignia 
of  rank  and  tied  their  hair  on  the  tops  of  their  heads 


254  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

with  red  leather.  Those  who  had  beeii  loyal  to  Spain 
were  now  rewarded  by  permission  from  the  viceroy  to 
ride  on  horseback  and  carry  a  gun  when  they  followed 
him  to  put  down  the  insurrection.  The  gachupines* 
were  very  angry  about  this  conciliatory  policy  of  the 
wise  Meudoza;  but  when  the  news  reached  Spain,  the 
king,  who  always  had  in  his  heart  a  warm  corner  for  the 
Indians,  was  so  much  interested  that  he  issued  an  edict 
of  emancipation,  with  full  authority  to  the  messenger 
who  took  it  to  Mexico  to  enforce  all  its  commands. 

If  putting  the  Indians  on  horseback  was  an  affront 
to  the  Spanish  pride,  the  planters  were  much  more  deep- 
ly moved  when  their  pockets  were  touched.  After  a 
vain  attempt  to  resist  the  new  law,  a  delegation  of  Cre- 
oles was  sent  to  Spain  to  protest  against  this  sentimental 
interference  with  their  human  machines.  The  good  Las 
Casas,  then  bishop  of  Chiapas,  tried  his  hand  at  mend- 
ing matters,  but  he  was  too  true  a  friend  of  the  red  men 
to  be  tolerated,  and  he  was  ever  afterward  regarded  by 
the  planters  as  their  enemy. 

Unfortunately  for  the  Indians,  the  delegation  reached 
Spain  at  a  time  when  Charles  V.  was  in  great  trouble. 
He  was  always  in  want  of  money  to  carry  on  his  numer- 
ous wars,  but  never  had  he  been  in  such  need  as  now. 
The  Turks,  who  for  a  long  time  had  been  thundering  at 
the  eastern  gate  of  his  empire,  now  boldly  entered  and 
snatched  away  the  crown  of  Hungary,  which  he  must 
win  back  at  any  cost.  His  quarrels  with  his  neighbor 
across  the  Pyrenees,  Francis  I.,  were  now  at  their  height, 
and  both  these  potentates  were  ransacking  Europe  for 
allies  and  borrowing  money  wherever  they  could  get  it. 
For  political  reasons,  Charles  was  just  then  very  friendly 
*  The  Mexican  name  for  natives  of  Spain. 


THE  HEEL   OF  THE  OPPRESSOR.  255 

•with  the  Protestants,  and  had  thus  offended  the  pope, 
who  would  be  sure,  unless  pacified,  to  retaliate  by  stir- 
ring up  trouble  in  other  quarters.  Besides  all  this,  the 
ravages  of  pirates  in  the  Mediterranean  called  for  a  strong 
hand  to  punish  these  old  offenders.  In  doing  this  a  great 
Spanish  fleet  was  lost  in  one  of  the  most  awful  storms 
which  ever  swept  the  seas,  and  hundreds  of  ships  were 
wrecked,  with  the  loss  of  eight  thousand  men.  It  will 
easily  be  seen  that  with  all  these  troubles  the  emperor 
could  not  afford  to  quarrel  just  then  with  his  colonists. 
Favored  by  these  circumstances,  and  by  means  of  brib- 
ery, the  Mexican  delegation  carried  their  point  and  went 
home  rejoicing,  to  rivet  still  tighter  those  chains  which 
bound  the  Indians  of  New  Spain  to  a  life  of  hopeless 
slaven\  Although  a  few  of  the  principal  Indian  fam- 
ilies remained  who  by  law  were  entitled  to  the  privileges 
enjoyed  by  the  Spanish  nobility,  they  were  a  conquered 
people  and  lived  in  bondage.  It  was  to  the  interest  of 
their  conquerors  that  they  should  be  kept  in  ignorance, 
counted  as  minors,  shut  up  in  villages  by  themselves  and 
forbidden  to  engage  in  commerce. 

The  natural  taste  of  the  Indians  for  engraving,  em- 
broidery, feather-  and  mosaic-work,  modeling  in  clay,  and 
other  like  occupations  requiring  artistic  skill,  met  with 
great  disapproval  from  the  Council  in  Spain.  They  were 
forbidden  to  engage  in  anything  but  the  coarsest  work, 
lest  they  should  become  discontented  or  unfit  for  menial 
service.  This  oppression  was  at  last  so  evident  to  the 
world  that  the  pope,  with  all  his  jealousy  of  Charles  V., 
declared  that  "  the  Indians  are  really  and  truly  men  cap- 
able of  receiving  the  Christian  faith. " 

But  those  original  proprietors  of  the  soil  were  often 
sullen  and  distrustful,  only  held  in  check  by  the  strong 


256  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

arm  of  the  law,  and  quite  as  liable  to  break  out  in  unex- 
pected times  and  places  as  were  the  long-slumbering  fires 
of  their  own  volcanoes.  Again  and  again  in  Spanish  colo- 
nial history  was  the  cruel  Indian  warfare  of  our  own 
times  enacted.  During  a  time  of  famine  they  burned 
the  palace  of  the  viceroy  over  his  head  and  tore  down 
some  of  the  public  buildings  in  a  blind  fury  which  struck 
alike  at  friend  and  at  foe.  Even  the  labors  of  their 
kind-hearted  spiritual  Fathers  were  several  times  repaid 
by  general  murder  and  pillage. 

Famines  were  sadly  common.  At  one  time  this  dis- 
aster was  followed  by  a  plague  which  carried  off  two 
million  people.  In  the  all-absorbing  search  for  gold  the 
old  system  of  irrigation  was  neglected,  and  the  moun- 
tains, made  bare  of  their  natural  covering  of  trees,  ceased 
to  regulate  the  supply  of  moisture.  The  streams,  sud- 
denly swollen  by  rain,  often  became  raging  torrents,  and, 
overleaping  their  natural  bounds,  poured  down  the  moun- 
tain-sides into  the  lakes.  In  the  Valley  of  Mexico  there 
were  five  of  these  which  were  often  so  full  in  times  of 
freshets  that  they  overflowed  every  barrier  and  ran  to- 
gether. 

Lake  Tezcuco,  in  which  the  City  of  Mexico  originally 
stood,  and  which  is  still  near  it,  is  twenty-six  feet  lower 
than  Lake  Zumpango,  farther  north.  In  1607,  after  the 
city  had  been  several  times  flooded  by  the  influx  of  the 
waters  from  the  upper  lake,  it  was  resolved  that  it  should 
be  drained  by  tunneling  the  mountain-wall  which  sur- 
rounds the  valley  at  its  lowest  point.  Fifteen  thousand 
Indians  were  set  to  work  on  this  gigantic  enterprise,  and 
by  a  reckless  sacrifice  of  human  life  the  subterranean 
canal,  twelve  miles  long,  was  cut  through  in  a  few 
months,  making  an  outlet  to  the  sea.  But  the  torrents 


THE  HEEL   OF  THE  OPPRESSOR. 


257 


which  sometimes  flowed  through  it  carried  with  them  so 
much  sand  and  rubbish  that  the  canal  was  soon  choked 
up,  not  being  made  with  a  sufficient  slope  to  give  momen- 
tum to  the  current.  The  sides  gave  way,  the  vaulted  roof 
fell  in,  and  the  upper  lake  was  dammed  up  again.  More 
than  seventy  years  afterward  the  consulado,  or  incorpo- 
rated merchants  of  Mexico,  took  the  work  in  hand  and 
resolved  to  make  an  open  cut.  This  was  done,  at  an 
enormous  expense  of  men  and  money,  about  one  hundred 


REFRESHMENTS   FOB  THE  HUNGRY   (MEXICO). 

and  thirty  years  after  it  was  begun.  During  this  time 
Mexico  was  almost  entirely  under  water  for  five  consec- 
utive years.  The  foundations  of  houses  were  destroyed, 
and  such  misery  prevailed  that  the  court  at  Madrid  gave 
orders  that  the  city  which  Cortez  built  should  be  aban- 
doned and  a  new  Mexico  built,  on  higher  ground.  Hap- 
pily, several  earthquakes  during  the  year  1634  cracked 
the  ground  in  various  directions,  and  the  surplus  water 
made  its  way  down  through  the  yawning  fissures,  much 
to  the  relief  of  the  inhabitants,  who  had  been  living 
IT 


258  AnOUT  MEXICO. 

in  second  stories  and  on  roofs  and  going  about  in 
boats.  The  poor  natives  gave  all  the  credit  of  this 
providential  interference  to  their  patron  Our  Lady  of 
Guadaloupe. 

As  in  other  things,  so  also  in  the  matter  of  education, 
did  the  Church  befriend  the  Indians.  In  the  latter  part 
of  the  sixteenth  century  the  Jesuits  founded  a  seminary 
where  the  natives  were  taught  to  read,  write  and  recite 
prayers  to  the  Virgin  and  the  saints.  The  University 
of  Mexico,  for  the  education  of  Creole  youth,  had  been 
established  more  than  thirty  years  when  this  school  was 
begun.  About  the  same  time  an  attempt  was  made  to 
gather  the  wandering  savage  tribes  at  the  North  into 
settled  habitations,  and  to  teach  them  to  work  as  a  source 
of  revenue  to  the  colony,  and  also  to  quell  their  con- 
stant tendency  to  rebellion.  This  proved  to  be  a  very 
difficult  task,  and  more  than  one  mission  established  for 
this  purpose  was  destroyed  and  had  its  leaders  murdered 
by  those  whom  they  came  to  help. 


CHAPTER    XX. 
VICEROYALTY. 

FT! HE  Indians  were  not  the  only  sufferers  from  the 
J-  grasping  policy  of  Spain.  She  proved  to  be  in 
every  way  an  unnatural  mother  to  this  the  fairest  of  her 
Western  possessions.  Throned  between  the  oceans,  with  a 
front  on  both  the  eastern  and  the  western  hemisphere,  a 
storehouse  of  the  world's  richest  mineral  treasures  and 
blessed  with  a  variety  of  climate  and  productions  which 
gave  her  the  advantage  of  every  zone,  Mexico  should 
have  been  the  commercial  peer  of  Spain.  Humboldt 
called  Mexico  el  puente  del  comercio  del  mundo  ("  the 
bridge  of  the  commerce  of  the  world  "),  it  being  on  the 
direct  highway  between  Europe  and  Asia.  "At  one 
time,"  says  Brantz  Mayer,  "the  East  and  the  West 
poured  their  people  through  the  cities  of  Vera  Cruz  and 
Acapulco,  and  some  of  the  most  distinguished  mer- 
chants of  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa  met  every  year  in 
the  capital,  midway  between  Spain  and  China,  to  trans- 
act business  and  exchange  opinions  upon  the  growing 
facilities  of  an  extended  commerce." 

The  Council  of  the  Indies  decided  that  Mexico  herself 
should  derive  no  benefit  from  all  these  natural  advan- 
tages :  she  should  be  simply  a  colony  of  miners  at  work 
for  the  mother-country,  furnishing  a  market  for  her  ex- 
ports. The  colonists  were  forbidden  to  make  any  article 

259 


260  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

in  Mexico  which  Spain  could  provide.  All  commerce 
with  other  countries,  and  even  with  sister-colonies,  was 
prohibited  on  pain  of  death.  No  vessels  but  those  of 
the  mother-country  could  enter  the  ports,  and  these 
were  carefully  searched  lest  contraband  articles — especially 
books — should  be  concealed  among  the  cargo.  Modern 
history  and  all  political  writings  were  particularly  under 
ban.  All  spirit  of  inquiry  was  stifled.  One  of  our  out- 
spoken newspapers  would  have  been  considered  an  in- 
fernal machine  by  the  inquisitorial  censors  of  the  press, 
who,  through  lack  of  heretics  to  burn,  hunted  books.  A 
publishing-house  in  1770  had  to  get  special  permission  to 
bring  over  type  to  print  an  almanac.  As  all  the  small 
dealers  in  the  country  were  obliged  to  report,  under  oath, 
the  amount  of  their  purchases  and  sales,  perjury  and 
smuggling  became  national  vices.  Every  article  of  im- 
port was  taxed  each  time  it  changed  hands,  and  instances 
were  known  where  such  a  tax  was  paid  on  a  single  article 
thirty  times  before  it  reached  a  consumer.  Even  Nature 
was  repressed  in  her  exuberance.  The  law  frowned  upon 
Mexican  grapes  and  olives  if  planted  by  the  hand  of  man, 
lest  some  enterprising  Creole  or  Indian  might  hinder  the 
sale  of  wine  and  oil  from  Spain  by  engaging  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  these  articles  at  home. 

For  many  years  after  the  colony  was  established  on 
this  "  bridge  of  the  world,"  maritime  nations  of  Europe 
were  busy  searching  for  that  famous  strait  to  the  south 
seas  and  other  places  which  had  long  figured  in  the  geo- 
graphical romances  of  Europe.  The  viceroys  of  Mexico 
were  anxious  to  add  to  the  lustre  of  their  reign  by  some 
great  discovery.  At  one  time  rumors  of  a  rich  kingdom 
at  the  North  were  brought  to  the  capital  by  an  exploring 
party  led  by  a  Franciscan  friar  who  had  been  in  that 


VICEROYALTY.  261 

direction.  The  name  of  this  region  was  Quivara.  Here 
arose  the  seven  cities  of  Cibola  painted  in  glowing  colors 
by  the  monk  who  first  visited  them.  This  romantic  story 
reaching  Spain,  orders  came  back  to  the  viceroy  to  explore 
and  subdue  the  land  without  delay.  Cortez,  who  was  then 
living  on  his  Mexican  estate,  offered  to  fulfill  this  task, 
but  was  refused.  An  army  was  sent  out  under  Coro- 
nado,  taking  the  great  natural  highway  leading  toward 
the  north  over  the  table-laud,  where  it  entered  what  is 
now  known  as  New  Mexico.  Like  the  seekers  after,  the 
enchanted  islands  whose  splendid  domes  and  walls  lured 
the  mariners  of  a  hundred  years  before,  the  soldiers  trav- 
eled on  and  on  in  a  fruitless  search,  wintering  twice 
in  the  wilderness  and  coming  back  disgusted  because 
they  found  only  a  community  of  Indian  farmers  living 
in  the  large  pueblos.  A  few  miserable  villages  still 
remain  to  mark  the  probable  site  of  the  cities  of  Cibola. 

Mexico  whilst  ruled  by  Spain  was  never  so  civilized 
after  the  conquest  as  before.  It  is  recorded  of  one  of  the 
viceroys  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  that  he 
caused  the  streets  of  the  capital  to  be  lighted  and  drained, 
and  strengthened  the  police-force  of  this  robber-infested 
land.  Beggary  increased  under  Spanish  rule,  until  at  the 
beginning  of  this  century  there  were  twenty  thousand 
beggars  in  the  capital  alone. 

Very  little  was  done  in  the  way  of  public  improve- 
ment during  the  three  centuries  of  viceroyalty.  There 
were  no  roads  except  such  as  led  from  one  large  city  to 
another,  and  these  were  very  poor.  The  nobles  and  the 
rich  Creoles  lived  on  immense  estates  called  haciendas, 
which  separated  them  widely.  One  of  these  gentlemen, 
who  lived  oil  the  hills  bordering  the  lowlands,  had  a 
hacienda  ninety  miles  long  by  fifty  wide.  He  fitted  out 


262  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

several  large  vessels  yearly,  at  one  time  sending  over  a 
great  shipload  of  mahogany,  and,  at  another,  one  of  ce- 
dar logs,  from  his  own  forests,  as  a  present  to  Philip  II. 
of  Spain.  Besides  these  munificent  gifts,  he  sent  a  prince- 
ly invitation  to  the  king,  declaring  that  if  His  Majesty 
would  do  him  the  honor  to  come  back  in  one  of  these 
vessels  to  Mexico  his  horse  should  walk  from  the  shore 
to  the  capital  on  ingots  of  silver.  Millions  upon  mil- 
lions of  gold  and  silver  produced  in  the  mines  were  sent 
abroad  and  helped  to  carry  on  the  wars  by  which  Europe 
was  devastated.  In  the  years  1773—74  twenty-six  millions 
of  dollars  were  sent  to  Spain  each  year.  She  had  con- 
quered the  New  World,  and  was  using  its  enslaved  pop- 
ulation to  help  her  to  lay  waste  the  Old  World  also.  It 
would  be  remarkable  that  during  the  three  hundred 
years  of  Spanish  government  of  Mexico  and  Peru  no 
one  of  the  enemies  of  Spain  despoiled  her  of  those 
treasure-houses,  did  we  not  remember  how  much  easier 
it  was  for  the  cruisers  of  England  and  France  to  capture 
the  Spanish  galleons  on  the  high  seas  than  to  invade  the 
country  and  dig  the  silver  and  gold  from  the  mines  for 
themselves.  As  years  went  on  the  Church  joined  the 
State  in  its  oppressions  of  the  people.  The  supremacy 
of  the  former  became  the  highest  aim  of  the  dissolute 
and  avaricious  priesthood  against  which  Cortez  warned 
his  king.  With  this  one  purpose  in  view,  the  monks 
fostered  ignorance  and  compromised  with  vice,  until, 
like  foul  and  monstrous  parasites,  these  growths  well- 
nigh  smothered  every  vestige  of  life  in  the  nation. 

While  Spain  was  shaping  her  colonial  policy,  Rome 
was  in  a  deadly  struggle  with  the  German  Reformers. 
Leo  X.  was  building  St.  Peter's  church ;  to  raise  the 
vast  sums  of  money  required  in  this  work,  he  decided  on 


264  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

an  unheard-of  exercise  of  his  spiritual  power.  It  was 
declared  that  the  Church  had  more  of  the  merits  of 
Christ  and  the  saints  than  was  needed  for  her  ordinary 
use,  and  that  a  surplus  was  now  for  sale.  Forgiveness 
of  sins  could  be  had  for  cash,  and,  as  for  souls  in  purga- 
tory, "  the  moment  the  money  chinked  in  the  box  "  of  a 
seller  of  indulgences  they  were  released  from  suffering 
for  any  time  specified,  and  paid  for  accordingly.  Heresy 
was  the  only  crime  which  could  not  be  forgiven.  No 
indulgences  were  so  popular  as  those  which  condoned 
lying,  stealing  and  murder.  This  infamous  traffic  aroused 
Luther  to  a  valiant  defence  of  the  truth.  In  1517,  as 
he  nailed  his  famous  theses  on  the  church  door  at  Wit- 
tenberg, the  sturdy  blows  of  his  hammer  had  resounded 
throughout  Europe,  and  for  years  afterward  its  princes 
and  prelates  were  battling  around  the  standard  of  relig- 
ious liberty  which  he  then  raised.  But  no  sound  of  this 
warfare  seems  to  have  crossed  the  sea  to  Mexico.  In 
time  we  hear  of  an  arrangement  between  the  pope  and 
Charles  V.  by  which  Mexican  gold  was  made  to  flow  into 
the  coffers  of  Rome.  The  king  bought  up  a  large  num- 
ber of  indulgences  and  dispensations  and  retailed  them 
in  New  Spain.  It  was  one  of  the  conditions  of  this 
wicked  traffic  that  no  man  should  buy  more  than  fifty 
permissions  to  steal  in  one  year.  "Darkness  covered 
the  land,  and  gross  darkness  the  people."  Charles  made 
vast  sums  of  money  by  this  monopoly,  and  in  the  squab- 
bles which  arose  between  him  and  his  partners  as  to 
which  was  the  largest  shareholder  the  pope  was  beaten. 
Those  who  believed  that  God  could  thus  be  bribed  to 
wink  at  sin  had  small  need  of  clean  hands  in  doing  the 
work  of  "his  Church. 

The  spirit  of  inquiry  could  not  have  been  wholly  re- 


VICEROYALTY.  265 

pressed,  for,  in  1572,  Philip  II.  thought  it  necessary  to 
set  up  a  branch  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition  in  Mexico. 
It  is  not  probable  that  many  victims  were  looked  for 
among  the  poor  and  ignorant  natives.  Their  heathenism 
was  always  tolerated  by  Rome ;  -so  long  as  they  went 
through  the  forms  of  obedience  they  might  indulge  in 
pagan  rites.  But  the  rich  colonists  were  looked  after 
most  carefully.  After  an  existence  of  over  eighty  years  in 
Mexico  this  satanic  institution  furnished  fifty  victims  to 
be  burned  alive  at  the  stake.  In  1 767,  Charles  VII.  of 
Spain,  convinced  that  the  Jesuits  were  plotting  against 
him,  ordered  that  the  society  should  be  suppressed  in 
every  part  of  his  dominions.  Sealed  despatches  were 
sent  to  every  Spanish  colony,  to  be  opened  by  the  author- 
ities on  the  same  day.  In  April,  1767,  when  the  order 
took  effect,  several  hundred  were  sent  from  Mexico. 
Even  the  pope,  whose  special  servants  they  were,  shut 
his  door  in  their  faces.  But,  though  the  Jesuits  were 
expelled,  the  Church  establishment  continued  to  engross 
much  of  the  wealth  and  power  of  Mexico.  Its  ecclesias- 
tics were  the  chief  land- owners  and  capitalists  of  the 
country.  The  archbishop  was  the  head  of  a  great  loan 
and  trust  company,  and  under  deeds  or  mortgages  held 
one-third  of  the  real  estate  in  Mexico.  In  1750  it  was 
stated  that  the  amount  of  money  drawn  by  the  Church 
from  this  bankrupt  nation  corresponded  to  the  interest  on 
a  capital  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen  millions  of  dollars. 
There  are  few  more  sumptuous  church-interiors  in  the 
world  than  those  of  several  of  the  cathedrals  of  Mexico. 
The  walls  of  the  cathedral  of  the  City  of  Mexico  cost  about 
two  millions  of  dollars.  On  its  massive  silver  altar  within 
stands  a  small  shrine  in  which  is  an  image  of  the  Virgin 
whose  three  petticoats — one  embroidered  with  pearls,  an- 


266  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

other  with  emeralds  and  the  third  with  diamonds — are 
said  to  be  worth  three  millions  of  dollars  more.  These  im- 
posing churches  often  stand  in  little  villages  of  adobe  huts, 
the  homes  of  ignorance  and  squalid  poverty.  The  contrast 
between  the  church  and  its  surroundings  is  all  the  more 
striking  when  we  remember  that  what  the  village  is  now 
it  has  always  been  since  Rome  took  possession  of  Mexico, 
and  nothing  could  better  illustrate  the  perverted  Chris- 
tianity she  has  taught  its  people  than  these  proud  shrines, 
in  whose  unwholesome  shadow  they  have  been  sitting  for 
centuries.  A  picture  of  Mexico  has  been  given  by  a 
visitor  from  this  country  in  1846  :  *  "  The  things  which 
most  strike  an  American  on  his  first  arrival  in  Mexico 
are  the  processions,  ceremonies  and  mummeries  of  the 
Catholic  worship.  As  to  any  rational  idea  of  true 
religion  or  any  just  conception  of  its  divine  Author,  the 
great  mass  are  little  more  enlightened  than  were  their 
ancestors  in  the  time  of  Montezuma.  Their  religion  is 
very  little  less  an  idolatry  than  that  of  the  grotesque 
images  of  stone  and  clay  of  which  it  has  taken  the  place." 
Mexico  is  still  one  of  the  darkest  cornel's  of  the  pope's 
dominions.  Nor  is  this  to  be  wondered  at  when  the  char- 
acter of  its  priesthood  is  understood.  The  abbe  Dome- 
nech,  who  accompanied  Maximilian  to  Mexico,  speaking 
of  these  blind  leaders  of  the  blind,  says  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  as  he  found  it  there,  "  It  fills  no  mission 
of  virtue,  no  mission  of  mercy,  uo  mission  of  charity. 
Virtue  cannot  exist  in  its  pestiferous  atmosphere.  The 
code  of  morality  does  not  come  within  its  practice.  It 
knows  no  mercy,  and  no  emotion  of  charity  ever  moves 
the  stony  heart  of  that  priesthood  which,  with  an  avarice 
that  has  no  limit,  filches  the  last  penny  from  the  diseased 
*  Recollections  of  Mexico,  by  Waddy  Thompson. 


VICEROYALTY.  267 

and  dying  beggar,  plunders  the  widows  and  orphans  of 
their  substance  as  well  as  their  virtue,  and  casts  such  a 
horoscope  of  horrors  around  the  death-bed  of  the  dying 
millionaire  that  the  poor  superstitious  wretch  is  glad  to 
purchase  a  chance  for  the  safety  of  his  soul  by  making 
the  Church  the  heir  to  his  treasures." 

All  the  viceroys  but  one — who  was  always  known  as 
the  "  great  governor  of  New  Spain  " — were  foreigners. 
It  was  the  policy  of  the  mother-country  to  surround  this 
shadow  of  a  king  with  a  privileged  class  similar  to  the 
old  nobility  of  Europe.  They  were  all  of  pure  Castilian 
blood  and  natives  of  Europe.  Their  children,  if  born  in 
Mexico,  were  Creoles.  To  these  foreigners  were  granted 
certain  privileges  (fueros)  which  in  time  created  a  great 
and  impassable  barrier  between  them  and  the  Creoles. 
The  Indians  called  these  people  gatzopins,  or  centaurs, 
afterward  corrupted  into  gachupines — a  word  which  may 
be  traced  back  to  the  old  idea  that  Spanish  horses  and 
men  were  one  animal.  These  gachupines  were  always 
looked  upon  as  aliens,  as  they  truly  were.  All  the  honors 
and  emoluments  in  Church  and  in  State  were  reserved  for 
this  privileged  class ;  every  law  was  intended  to  benefit 
them.  The  system  of  fueros  which  elevated  the  gachu- 
pines was  extended  also  to  certain  classes  among  the 
Creoles.  Special  privileges  were  thus  granted  to  the 
army  which  lifted  a  soldier  almost  entirely  out  of  the 
reach  of  the  civil  law  and  made  both  officers  and  men 
responsible  to  their  commander  alone.  The  clergy  owed 
obedience  only  to  the  bishops,  and  these  in  turn  to  the 
pope  of  Rome,  who  kept  his  hold  on  the  keys  of  this 
great  treasure-house  by  entering  into  a  business  partner- 
ship with  the  king  of  Spain.  The  schools,  the  engineers, 
the  revenue-officers,  and  others  employed  by  the  govern- 


268  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

ment,  "were  so  fenced  about  by  these  peculiar  fueros  that 
there  was  a  never-ceasing  conflict  between  the  central 
authorities  and  their  irresponsible  subjects.  The  result 
of  these  long-fostered  evils  was  constant  friction.  No 
difference  in  blood  could  create  so  much  bitterness  as 
these  odious  class-distinctions.  Gachupine  and  Creole 
thoroughly  hated  each  other,  while  both  trod  remorse- 
lessly on  the  Indian. 

About  thirty-five  years  after  the  United  States  threw 
off  its  colonial  yoke  Mexico  was  aroused  from  the  uneasy 
sleep  of  centuries  to  take  a  part  in  the  great  struggle  for 
liberty  then  going  on  in  the  world.  The  fall  of  the 
Bourbon  dynasty  in  Spain,  in  1808,  was  the  death-knell 
of  absolute  monarchy  in  all  her  colonies.  In  that  year 
Charles  VI.  abdicated  in  favor  of  his  son,  Ferdinand  VII. 
This  step,  taken  in  haste,  would  gladly  have  been  re- 
tracted, but  Ferdinand  would  not  yield.  While  father 
and  son  were  quarreling  Napoleon  interfered  and  put  his 
brother,  Jerome  Bonaparte,  on  the  throne,  declaring  that 
the  house  of  Bourbon  had  now  ceased  to  reign.  Ferdi- 
nand was  obliged  to  sign  the  decree  of  the  council  of  the 
Indies  commanding  their  Mexican  colony  to  obey  the 
usurper.  Strange  to  say,  the  gachupines,  those  creatures 
of  an  absolute  monarchy,  approved  of  this  measure,  but 
the  Creoles,  in  their  intense  loyalty,  publicly  burned 
Ferdinand's  enforced  proclamation. 

In  this  emergency  the  viceroy  summoned  a  junta  of 
the  chief  men  in  Church  and  State.  For  the  first  time 
in  their  history  the  Creoles  were  put  upon  an  equality 
with  the  gachupines  by  an  invitation  to  assist  at  this 
council.  They  were  delighted,  but  the  old  Spaniards 
were  so  enraged  that  they  went  to  the  palace  of  the  vice- 
roy and  seized  him,  hurrying  him  away  to  prison,  where 


VICEROY 'ALTY.  269 

they  kept  him  three  years.  These  high-handed  proceed- 
ings proved  the  ruin  of  the  gachupines.  The  Creoles 
were  determined  to  uphold  Ferdinand,  raising  seven 
millions  of  dollars  in  a  few  months  to  aid  the  struggling 
royalists  of  Spain. 

In  1812  the  Spanish  Cortes  enacted  a  constitution 
which  embodied  many  such  reforms  as  the  freedom  of 
the  press,  the  suppression  of  the  Inquisition,  the  closing  of 
monasteries  and  convents,  the  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits 
and  the  cutting  off  of  all  privileges  belonging  exclu- 
sively to  the  army  and  the  nobility.  To  crown  all,  the 
people  were  invested  with  power.  But  long  before  the 
ignorant  peasantry  of  Spain  could  realize  their  high 
privileges  a  counter-revolution  had  seated  Ferdinand  on 
the  throne,  as  firm  a  believer  as  ever  in 

"  The  right  divine  of  kings  to  govern  wrong." 

He  annulled  everything  the  Cortes  had  done,  persecuted 
those  who  had  in  any  way  aided  the  people  in  their 
cause,  revived  the  Inquisition,  and  thus  plunged  the 
nation  into  a  civil  war  which  lasted  six  years.  In  1820 
the  people  regained  their  power  and  compelled  the  king 
to  swear  to  support  the  constitution.  There  were  great 
rejoicings  all  over  Spain,  to  which  Ferdinand  listened  in 
silence.  He  Avas  a  Bourbon  of  whom  it  was  well  said, 
"  They  never  learn  anything,  and  never  forget  anything." 
The  royalists,  though  in  a  decided  minority,  began  to 
plot  again,  and  ere  long  the  perjured  king,  with  the  aid 
of  the  Church,  had  regained  his  despotic  power,  and  a 
cloud  from  the  Dark  Ages  seemed  for  a  time  to  over- 
shadow Spain.  Ferdinand  was  restored  once  more  to 
his  throne  and  compelled  again  to  swear  to  support  the 
constitution.  Backed  by  the  Holy  Alliance,  he  entered 


270  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

Madrid  as  l>efore  in  royal  state,  but  only  to  become 
again  false  to  his  God  and  his  country.  He  revoked 
all  his  acts  since  1820,  re-established  the  Inquisition 
and  its  attendant  despotism,  and  for  years  Spain  was 
like  Mazeppa's  horse,  struggling  to  throw  its  riders,  liv- 
ing and  dead. 

All  this  time  Mexico  was  a  deeply-interested  spectator. 
Loyalty  in  a  Spaniard  amounts  to  religion,  and  some, 
even  among  those  who  murmured  loudest  against  the 
exactions  of  the  government,  sided  with  the  tyrants  they 
once  had  upbraided.  But,  with  all  the  sympathy  it  re- 
ceived, royal  authority  in  Mexico  had  received  its  death- 
blow. The  Creoles  had  been  watching  from  afar  that 
battle  for  liberty  in  which  the  United  States  had  borne 
a  leading  part,  and,  though  not  republicans  in  sentiment, 
they  were  determined  to  put  down  those  odious  class- 
distinctions  by  which  so  long  they  had  been  debarred 
from  taking  their  rightful  place  in  the  government  coun- 
cils. They  were  dissatisfied  with  persons,  not  with  prin- 
ciples, and  insisted  that  natives  of  the  country  should 
have  an  equal  share  with  foreigners  in  the  management 
of  colonial  affairs.  But  this  reasonable  request  was 
violently  opposed  by  the  gachupines. 

While  the  Spaniards  were  thus  at  swords'  points  among 
themselves  over  questions  of  rank,  still  heavier  grievances 
wrere  adding  weight  to  the  old  yoke  of  servitude  borne 
by  the  Indians.  In  1808  a  plot  was  discovered  among 
them  to  lighten  their  burdens  by  securing  the  independ- 
ence of  Mexico.  Foremost  among  the  conspirators 
was  Miguel  Hidalgo,  the  Indian  priest,  or  cura,  of  the 
little  village  of  Dolores,  near  San  Miguel  el  Grande. 
The  great  uprising  under  this  patriot  was  the  dawn  of  a 
new  day  for  Mexico.  He  was  a  man  of  noble  presence 


MIGUEL  HIDATAJO. 


272  A  BO  UT  MEXICO. 

and  great  natural  ability,  "representing  the  best  elements 
of  the  people  to  whom  he  belonged,"  having  endeared 
himself  to  them  by  a  blameless  life  and  by  fatherly  care 
over  their  temporal  as  well  as  their  spiritual  interests. 
In  spite  of  stringent  laws  against  colonial  enterprise, 
he  had  encouraged  them  to  make  the  most  of  the  vege- 
table treasures  with  which  Mexico  is  so  richly  endowed. 
Under  his  direction  they  had  cultivated  the  native  silk- 
worm and  planted  vineyards  and  olive  trees.  But  the 
jealousy  of  the  government  was  aroused.  Spanish 
monopolies  could  be  sustained  only  by  crushing  the 
serfs,  soul  and  body,  under  foot.  Hidalgo  saw  the 
olive  and  mulberry  trees  of  Dolores  uprooted  by  a 
special  order  from  Mexico,  the  vineyards  laid  waste  and 
his  people  ordered  to  go  back  to  tasks  more  befitting  their 
condition  as  slaves.  An  oil-and-wine  press  had  been 
established  near  by,  in  Guanajuato,  and  just  then  the 
war  in  Spain  had  made  oil  and  wine  so  scarce  and  dear 
that  home  manufacture  was  much  encouraged  and  very 
profitable.  New  hope  had  sprung  up,  therefore,  among 
the  small  planters  throughout  the  district  of  Salamanca, 
when  the  police-force  came  upon  them,  tore  down  the 
mill  and  destroyed  the  stock  of  the  proprietor. 

The  long-pent-up  hatred  toward  the  conquerors  now 
burst  forth  with  redoubled  strength.  Hidalgo  had  be- 
come one  of  a  band  of  conspirators  scattered  throughout 
the  country  who  had  plotted  to  make  Mexico  independ- 
ent. For  years  he  had  been  brooding  over  the  wrongs 
of  his  people,  when  the  outrages  at  Guanajuato  and 
Dolores  fired  him  with  new  zeal  and  courage.  The 
war-cry  would  soon  have  sounded,  when,  by  the  treach- 
ery of  one  of  the  band,  the  plan  was  exposed.  The 
man  was  suddenly  taken  ill,  and,  fearing  that  he  was 


VICEROYALTY.  273 

about  to  die,  he  confessed  all  to  the  priest.  Most  of  the 
clergy  were  hand  in  hand  with  the  tyrants,  and  this  one 
of  the  fraternity,  though  bound  by  oath  not  to  reveal 
the  secrets  of  the  confessional,  lost  no  time  in  spreading 
the  news. 

Tidings  came  to  Hidalgo  late  one  evening  in  Decem- 
ber. Not  a  moment  was  to  be  lost.  Messengers  were 
sent  to  the  captain  of  a  regiment,  La  Rexia,  near  by, 
who  was  also  one  of  the  conspirators.  He  came  with 
his  men  early  the  next  morning,  and  the  standard  of  Mex- 
ican independence  hastily  set  up  before  the  curate's  door 
attracted  all  eyes.  The  villagers  flew  to  arms.  In  twelve 
days  twenty  thousand  Indians  had  gathered  about  this 
new  flag,  the  first  that  had  roused  any  enthusiasm  since 
the  old  tribal  banners  had  been  laid  low.  They  were  a 
motley  crowd,  armed  with  slings,  bows,  clubs,  lances  and 
the  machetes,  or  hoes,  with  which  they  tilled  the  soil. 
Very  few  besides  the  soldiers  had  muskets  or  knew  how 
to  handle  them.  Hidalgo  put  on  a  general's  dress  and 
marched  at  the  head  of  the  mob  to  Guanajuato.  Every 
ranche  and  every  hamlet  on  the  way  had  furnished  new 
recruits  to  join  the  wild  shout,  "  Death  to  the  gachupines 
and  independence  for  Mexico !"  Then  Hidalgo  arrested 
the  gachup'mes.  The  whole  city  was  in  an  uproar.  The 
next  morning  he  presented  his  cause  to  the  people  and 
carried  all  hearts  before  him.  The  citizens  rose  almost 
to  a  man  and  joined  the  insurgents. 

But  the  partisans  of  Hidalgo  were  a  cruel  and  lawless 
mob.  Unused  to  war,  they  could  not  be  held  in  check, 
and  divided  councils  soon  imperiled  the  cause  so  right- 
eously begun.  On  the  march  to  the  capital  his  army 
increased  to  one  hundred  thousand  men.  The  leading 
classes  were  by  this  time  in  arms  against  them,  and  their 

18 


274  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

very  numbers  were  an  obstacle  to  their  success.  Orders 
had  been  given  in  Mexico  to  kill  all  the  men,  women 
and  children  in  any  town  or  village  which  should  show 
favor  to  the  rebels.  The  brutal  general  Callega,  who 
carried  out  the  government  orders,  wreaked  its  utmost 
vengeance  on  Guanajuato.  He  is  said  to  have  butchered 
at  one  time,  in  cold  blood,  fourteen  thousand  prisoners  in 
that  city  alone. 

Hidalgo  was  permitted  to  baptize  the  cause  so  dear  to 
his  heart  only  with  a  martyr's  blood.  He  was  making 
his  way  toward  the  United  States,  hoping  for  shelter 
there  till  his  plans  could  be  better  arranged,  but  he  was 
betrayed  and  captured,  deposed  from  his  priesthood  and 
shot  at  Chihuahua,  July  30,  1811. 

True  as  was  Hidalgo's  devotion  to  his  country,  he 
fought  against  an  enemy  whose  right  arm  he  was  blindly 
upholding.  This  was  shown  by  his  unswerving  loyalty 
to  that  Church  whose  corruption  and  lust  of  power  have 
ever  made  her  a  fit  ally  for  despots.  During  the  revolu- 
tionary struggles  which  followed  Hidalgo's  death  the 
people  began  to  see  that  their  Spanish  masters  had  no 
more  faithful  friends  and  allies  than  the  Romish  priest- 
hood. Hidalgo's  enthusiastic  love  for  the  Church  was 
echoed  by  the  first  Mexican  Congress,  which  met  in 
1812,  the  year  after  his  death.  They  declared  that 
the  Catholic  religion  only  should  be  recognized  and 
allowed  in  the  State,  and  that  the  press  should  be  free 
except  for  the  discussion  of  religious  matters.  Slavery 
was  abolished,  privileges  of  birth  and  color  were  an- 
nulled, the  property  of  the  gachupines  was  confiscated, 
and  a  representative  government  of  natives  was  inau- 
gurated. 

The  cause  of  liberty  did  not  die  with  Hidalgo.    While 


VICEROTALTY.  275 

still  hopeful  of  success  he  had  commissioned  Morelos,  an 
Indian  priest,  as  captain-general  of  the  insurgent  force 
at  the  South.  After  the  death  of  Hidalgo  the  chief 
command  devolved  on  his  brother-patriot. 

The  royalists  had  entered  on  a  war  of  extermination, 
and  not  a  town  or  a  village  dared  shelter  the  rebels. 
Morelos  resolved  to  tire  out  his  enemies  by.  changing  the 
scene  of  conflict  to  the  hot  lands  on  the  coast,  where  the 
men  of  the  cold  regions  would  melt  away  with  its  deadly 
fevers. 

At  one  time,  on  a  retreat  to  Oaxaca,  Morelos  hoped  to 
find  shelter  for  his  troops  in  a  little  town  surrounded  by 
a  deep  moat.  As  they  came  to  the  bank  with  the  enemy 
in  hot  pursuit  they  saw,  to  their  dismay,  that  the  draw- 
bridge was  raised  and  the  better  to  prevent  their  entrance 
the  townspeople  had  secured  every  boat.  Seizing  an  axe, 
Guadalupe  Victoria,  afterward  first  president  of  the  re- 
public, sprang  into  the  stream,  and  in  the  sight  of  the 
panic-stricken  crowd  on  the  opposite  bank  he  swam  boldly 
across,  cut  the  ropes  which  held  the  bridge  aloft,  and  as 
it  came  down  with  a  thundering  crash  Morelos  and  his 
men  dashed  over  and  took  possession  of  the  place. 

A  story  is  told  of  Miguel  Bravo,  another  of  the  patriots, 
that  shows  the  spirit  which  animated  many  of  these  noble 
men.  Three  hundred  prisoners  had  fallen  into  their 
hands  at  the  siege  of  Palmo,  and  General  Morelos  gave 
the  disposal  of  them  to  Bravo,  who  immediately  offered 
them  all  to  the  viceroy  in  exchange  for  his  father,  Don 
Leonardo  Bravo,  then  a  prisoner  under  sentence  of  death 
at  the  capital.  But  the  viceroy  rejected  the  offer  and 
ordered  the  execution  to  take  place  immediately.  When 
Bravo  heard  the  sad  news,  he  set  his  three  hundred  men 
at  liberty,  saying,  "  I  wish  to  put  it  out  of  my  power  to 


276  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

avenge  my  father's  death  lest  in  the  first  moments  of  my 
grief  the  temptation  to  do  so  would  prove  irresistible."* 

A  national  Congress  which  had  been  summoned  to 
organize  an  independent  government  had  not  yet  finished 
its  work  when  the  members  Avere  driven  out  of  Chilpan- 
zinco,  where  they  Avere  in  session.  Morelos  led  them  to 
a  dense  fores.t,  and  there,  hidden  in  the  shadow  of  its 
great  trees,  the  declaration  of  Mexican  independence  and 
its  first  constitution  were  drawn  up.  Before  the  work  was 
completed  an  alarm  was  given,  "  The  royalists  are  upon 
us  I"  Hastily  gathering  up  their  precious  documents,  the 
men  fled,  and  Morelos  and  his  handful  of  patriots,  closing 
in  behind  them,  held  until  they  were  beyond  pursuit  the 
pass  through  which  they  were  flying.  Morelos  heroically 
stood  his  ground  until  but  one  man  remained  at  his  side. 
Then,  when  forced  to  surrender,  he  said  calmly,  "  My 
race  is  run  when  au  independent  government  is  estab- 
lished in  Mexico."  He  was  condemned  to  be  shot  for 
high  treason.  As  he  knelt  beside  the  grave  already 
yawning  to  receive  his  body,  his  faith  turned  from  the 
saints  and  the  Virgin,  who  were  the  objects  of  prayer 
and  adoration  for  generations,  and  he  cried  out  to  Jesus 
Christ,  the  one  Mediator  between  God  and  man,  exclaim- 
ing with  his  last  breath, 

"  Lord,  if  I  have  done  well,  thou  knowest  it ;  if  ill,  to 
thine  infinite  mercy  I  commend  my  soul !" 
*  Ward's  Mexico,  vol.  i.  p.  204. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


MEXICAN  INDEPENDENCE. 


T 


HE  fall  of  Morelos 
seemed    a    death- 
blow to  the  insurgents. 
Under  his  bold  leader- 
ship  men    of  different 
ranks  in  society  and  of 
varying  shades  of  opin- 
ion had  marched  shoul- 
B*  der  to  shoulder,  Creole 
and  Indian,  priest  and 
layman,  monarchist  and 
republican,   united    by 
!  one  bond  only — "  Death 
to  gachupines  and  inde- 
pendence for  Mexico !" 
But  now  all  these  were 
scattered  to  the  four  winds.    In  the  guerilla- 
warfare  that  became  general  during  the  reign 
of  anarchy  which  followed,  the  Indios  bravos, 
or  savage  tribes,  had  their  opportunity.    The 
open  country  was  given  up  to  banditti,  and  every  ranche 
and  every  hacienda  was   a   citadel  in   danger  of  siege. 
The  cities  were  so  infested  with  robbers  that  the  streets 
were   deserted  at  nightfall,  and  few  rich   men   escaped 
being   kidnapped  for  the  heavy  ransom  extorted  from 

277 


278  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

their  families.  But  men  were  thinking.  The  standard 
of  liberty  raised  by  Hidalgo  had  floated  over  the  capital 
but  sixty-six  days,  yet  during  that  time  the  liberals  had 
used  the  just-unfettered  press  to  great  advantage.  News- 
papers and  handbills  were  scattered  with  a  lavish  hand, 
and  truths  were  taught  that  burned  in  the  hearts  of  men 
like  smouldering  fire,  needing  only  one  breath  of  free  air 
to  kindle  into  flame. 

One  of  those  who  stood  by  when  Morelos  was  put  to 
death  was  Agustiu  Iturbide,  a  handsome,  dashing  young 
officer  from  the  hills  of  Valladolid,  in  Southern  Mexico. 
He  had  commanded  the  government  troops  when  the 
patriot  was  captured. 

In  1820,  when  the  news  of  the  revolution  in  Spain 
sent  a  thrill  throughout  the  colonies,  the  viceroy  of 
Mexico  received  orders  from  the  Council  of  the  Indies  to 
proclaim  throughout  his  dominions  that  the  constitution 
enacted  by  the  Spanish  Cortes  in  1812  was  again  the  law 
of  the  land.  Anxious  lest  his  own  power  should  be  cur- 
tailed, and  counting  on  the  support  of  all  the  royalists  in 
Mexico,  Apodaea  resolved  to  oppose  these  measures,  and 
so  far  as  was  in  his  power  to  reinstate  the  Bourbons 
on  the  throne.  But  Iturbide,  though  a  thoroughgoing 
royalist,  saw  fit  to  disobey  both  Apocada  and  the  Cortes. 
Whatever  may  have  been  his  motives,  God's  time  had 
come  for  another  blow  to  be  struck  for  the  independence 
of  Mexico,  and  Iturbide,  though  an  enemy  of  true  liberty, 
was  the  instrument  prepared  for  the  work. 

Leagued  with  the  Church  party,  Iturbide  contrived 
to  get  possession  of  half  a  million  dollars  of  public 
money,  and  proceeded  to  set  up  a  new  kingdom  on  these 
Western  shores  with  the  design  of  perpetuating  here  the 
old  despotism  of  Kurope,  and  at  the  same  time  to  free 


MEXICAN  INDEPENDENCE.  279 

Mexico  from  dependence  on  the  mother-country.  He 
devised  what  is  known  as  the  "  plan  of  Iguala,"  so 
named  from  the  little  town  near  Acapulco  where  it  was 
first  set  forth.  Three  ideas  are  embodied  in  this  plan — 
first,  Mexican  independence;  second,  the  abolition  of 
caste ;  third,  the  maintenance  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  The  country  was  to  be  governed  by  a  junta, 
or  council,  until  there  could  be  imported  from  Europe  a 
king  whose  blue  blood  would  command  the  respect  of  all 
parties. 

PriestvS  and  monks  were  now  in  love  with  Mexican 
independence.  Church  property  had  been  confiscated  in 
Spain,  and  there  was  good  reason  to  fear  that  the. vast 
estates,  jewels,  money  and  plate  of  the  Church  in  Mex- 
ico would  soon  go  the  same  way  if  the  ties  which  held 
the  two  countries  together  were  not  sundered.  Indeed, 
the  Spanish  Cortes  had  already  commanded  the  Mexican 
prelates  to  disgorge  their  ill-gotten  gains.  It  may  well 
be  supposed  that  Iturbide's  response  to  the  viceroy's 
orders  aroused  the  slumbering  hopes  of  every  revolution- 
ist in  the  laud.  With  the  eight  hundred  men  with  whom 
he  started  and  thousands  more  who  joined  him  on  the 
way,  the  gay  young  general  came  marching  into  the 
capital  with  banners  and  music,  and  once  more  the 
war-cry  of  Hidalgo  rang  out  through  the  streets  of 
Mexico. 

Iturbide  found  the  Cortes  torn  with  the  dissensions  of 
three  parties,  each  eagerly  claiming  his  support.  A  few 
urged  a  return  to  the  old  Bourbon  principle  of  one-man 
power ;  other  royalists  insisted  that,  whoever  was  king, 
Mexico  should  have  a  constitutional  government ;  and 
00161*8,  again,  wished  to  throw  overboard  all  these  mon- 
archists and  establish  a  republic,  taking  the  United  States 


280  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

as  an  example.     The  tide  of  enthusiasm  over  the  revolu- 
tion ran  high,  with  Iturbide  on  its  topmost  wave. 

The  scattered  patriots  who  fought  under  Hidalgo  and 
Morelos  now  came  out  of  their  hiding-places  to  join  in 
the  shout  of  "  Independence  for  Mexico  !"  Among  these 
was  Guadalupe  Victoria.  After  the  death  of  his  friend 
Morelos  every  effort  had  been  made  by  the  government 
to  seduce  this  brave  patriot.  He  was  offered  high  rank 
in  the  army  and  a  rich  reward  if  he  would  swear  alle- 
giance to  viceregal  authority.  But  he  could  not  be 
bought.  A  price  was  set  on  his  head,  and  he  was  hunt- 
ed like  a  wild  beast.  Deserted  at  last  by  every  follower, 
Victoria  fled  to  the  most  inaccessible  mountains,  to  re- 
treats where  his  Indian  friends  did  not  follow  him.  Here, 
in  utter  loneliness,  he  lived  for  two  years  a  hermit's  life, 
subsisting  only  on  nuts,  berries,  roots  and  such  birds  and 
animals  as  he  could  entrap.  He  was  one  of  that  great 
army  of  martyrs  for  truth  who  in  all  ages  and  lands 
have  been  "destitute,  afflicted,  tormented  (of  whom  the 
world  was  not  worthy) ;  who  wandered  in  deserts,  and  in 
mountains,  and  in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth." 

When  the  news  of  Iturbide's  proclamation  rang 
through  Mexico,  two  faithful  Indian  followers  went  in 
search  of  Victoria  to  tell  him  of  the  new  day  which  had 
dawned  for  their  country.  It  was  just  three  hundred 
years  since  the  heel  of  the  oppressor  had  been  set  on  the 
neck  of  their  race.  Hope  of  freedom  from  their  for- 
eign masters  had  long  since  died  out,  but  hope  of  free- 
dom with  them  was  now  bringing  Creole  and  Indian 
into  new  fellowship,  and  for  the  first  time  in  the  history 
of  Mexico  the  two  races  rejoiced  together. 

Victoria's  retreat  was  at  last  discovered  in  a  cave  in 
one  of  the  wild  gorges  spanned  now  by  the  national 


HIGH   BRIDGE   OJT  THE  MEXICO  AND  VERA   CRUZ   RAILWAY. 


282  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

bridge  on  the  Mexican  Railway  between  Vera  Cruz  and 
Mexico  city.  When  he  came  back  to  the  haunts  of  civ- 
ilized men,  he  was  worn  to  a  skeleton  and  so  covered 
with  hair  that  his  nearest  friends  at  first  did  not  recog- 
nize him  except  by  the  old  lire  which  gleamed  in  his  eye 
and  the  dauntless  courage  with  which  he  sprang  at  once 
to  the  welcome  task  of  redeeming  Mexico  from  her  old 
fetters. 

Iturbide's  arrival  in  the  capital  had  so  roused  the 
populace  there  that  the  viceroy  was  obliged  to  acknowl- 
edge the  independence  of  Mexico  to  save  the  (/<n-hitjiiii<'x 
from  violence.  When  this  was  reported  in  Spain,  the  timid 
official  was  promptly  recalled ;  but  the  man  sent  to  fill 
his  place  fared  no  better  in  the  hands  of  his  new  subjects. 
Mexico  liad  for  ever  shaken  off  the  yoke  of  Spain,  and 
was  now  launched  on  the  stormy  sea  of  revolution  as  an 
independent  nation.  To  conciliate  their  old  rulers,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  carry  out  their  plan,  the  Mexicans 
despatched  an  invitation  to  the  Bourbons  to  send  one  of 
their  spare  princes  over  to  fill  the  new  throne.  But  not 
one  of  them  would  accept  the  offer.  In  the  general  con- 
fusion which  ensued,  a  grateful  people,  dazzled  by  the 
splendid  qualities  of  their  lil>erator,  Iturbide,  on  May  1, 
1822,  pushed  him  into  the  seat  just  vacated  by  the  vice- 
roy, giving  him  the  title  of  "  emperor."  The  Mexican 
Congress,  glad  to  see  any  way  open  toward  a  settlement, 
legalized  this  disorderly  movement  of  the  people,  gave 
Iturbide  the  title  "  Agustin  I.,"  declared  his  crown  hered- 
itary and  conferred  royal  honors  on  the  whole  Iturbide 
family.  An  order  of  nobility  was  created,  so  that  the 
rogalia  of  a  Creole  nobleman  could  equal — in  glitter,  at 
least — the  regalia  worn  by  the  long-envied  ffachupmee. 

Agustin  I.  might  have  gained  a  firm  footing  for  him- 


MEXICAN  INDEPENDENCE.  283 

self  and  for  his  children  but  for  the  arrogance  with 
which  he  treated  his  new  subjects  and  for  his  indifference 
to  their  constitutional  rights.  He  soon  quarreled  with 
the  Cortes  and  arrested  a  number  of  the  members,  then 
dissolved  the  body  and  replaced  it  with  a  set  of  men  who 
would  obey  him  without  question.  These  high-handed 
proceedings  opened  the  eyes  of  the  people  to  the  true 
character  of  their  favorite.  The  northern  provinces 
were  first  to  turn  upon  him ;  he  was  now  styled  "  the 
usurper  Iturbide."  Santa  Anna,  governor  of  Vera 
Cruz,  uniting  with  Guadalupe  Victoria,  joined  the  dis- 
affected party  and  hoisted  the  flag  of  the  republic ;  and 
when  troops  were  sent  from  Mexico  by  the  emperor  to 
put  down  the  revolt,  they  too  joined  his  enemies.  Itur- 
bide saw  his  mistake  when  it  was  too  late.  In  March, 
1823,  after  a  reign  of  only  ten  months,  he  offered  his  abdi- 
cation to  the  old  Congress.  Congress  ignored  the  fact  that 
he  had  ever  worn  a  crown,  but  accorded  him  the  honor 
due  to  his  first  title — "  Liberator  of  Mexico  " — and  sent 
him  and  his  family  quietly  over-sea  on  a  pension  of 
twenty  thousand  dollars  a  year. 

One  more  sad  act,  and  the  curtain  falls  on  poor  Itur- 
bide. Too  restless  to  stay  in  Italy,  whither  he  had 
betaken  himself,  the  ex-emperor  secretly  came  back, 
hoping,  no  doubt,  to  gain  his  old  place  in  the  hearts  of 
his  countrymen.  He  was  discovered  by  one  of  his  former 
generals,  arrested  as  an  outlaw  by  the  State  of  Tamau- 
lipas  under  a  law  passed  by  Congress  forbidding  him  on 
pain  of  death  to  set  foot  on  Mexican  soil,  and  shot  by 
State  authority. 

The  year  1824  is  one  of  the  bright  points  in  this 
dreary  history  of  turbulence.  About  that  time  a  galaxy 
of  Spanish  colonies  had  declared  for  independence — 


284  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

Chili,  New  Granada,  Ecuador,  Peru,  Bolivia,  Venezuela. 
The  spirit  of  republicanism  had  been  spreading  like  fire 
on  dry  grass.  Mexico  for  the  first  time  decided  to  be 
a  republic,  and  was  formally  recognized  as  such  by  Spain. 
In  the  constitution  which  the  whole  country  then  adopt- 
ed, although  patterned  after  that  of  the  United  States, 
the  people  show  themselves  still  ignorant  of  the  first 
principle  of  liberty.  All  religious  but  the  Roman 
Catholic  faith  were  prohibited,  the  property  of  the 
clergy  was  put  beyond  the  reach  of  secular  law,  and 
none  but  gachupines  were  allowed  to  fill  high  offices 
in  the  Church. 

The  republican  reaction  after  the  fall  of  Iturbide  re- 
sulted in  the  expulsion  of  the  old  Spaniards  from  the 
country.  When  the  Spanish  flag  was  hauled  down  from 
the  castle  of  San  Juan  d'Ulua,  not  a  vestige  remained  of 
the  old  colonial  power  of  Spain,  this  fortress,  her  last 
foothold  on  this  coast,  having  held  out  against  the  revo- 
lutionists several  years  longer  than  any  other  part  of  the 
country.  By  a  strange  ordering  of  Providence,  its  keys 
were  finally  given  into  the  hands  of  General  Barrancas, 
the  husband  of  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  Aztec  chief 
Montezuma.  The  fall  of  this  castle  was  thus  announced 
by  the  president  of  the  republic  in  his  proclamation  : 
"  The  standard  of  the  republic  now  waves  over  the  cas- 
tle of  Ulua !  I  announce  to  you,  fellow-citizens,  with 
indescribable  pleasure,  that  now,  after  a  lapse  of  three 
hundred  and  four  years,  the  flag  of  Castile  has  disap- 
peared from  our  coasts."  Thus  ended  what  is  known 
as  "the  war  of  independence."  Mexico  was  now  a 
member  of  the  family  of  nations,  and,  though  still 
wearing  the  fetters  of  the  greatest  despotism  on  earth, 
had  already  entered  on  that  mighty  struggle  for  constitu- 


MEXICAN  INDEPENDENCE.  285 

tional  liberty  which  after  a  lapse  of  more  than  forty 
years  has  ended  in  its  complete  overthrow. 

It  would  be  perplexing  and  unsatisfactory  to  trace  the 
varying  fortunes  of  those  professed  friends  of  Freedom 
in  Mexico  who 

"  Presumed  to  lay  their  hands  upon  the  ark 
Of  her  magnificent  and  awful  cause." 

The  story  of  Beuito  Juarez,  the  reformer  of  Mexico, 
will  give  all  needed  details  of  its  revolutionary  struggles 
and  show  that,  as  liberty  there  had  its  birthplace  in  the 
heart  of  one  Indian,  so  it  reached  its  glorious  consum- 
mation through  the  undying  and  incorruptible  patriot- 
ism of  another. 

Benito  Juarez  was  a  pure-blooded  Zapotec  Indian, 
born  in  1806  in  the  little  village  of  San  Pablo  Guetatao, 
among  the  mountains  of  Oaxaca.  His  tribe  held  the 
lands  of  its  fathers  and  maintained  a  sturdy  independ- 
ence during  three  hundred  years  of  colonial  oppression. 
This  was  one  of  the  tribes  before  whom  the  proud 
Aztecs  trembled.  A  few  of  the  men  now  spoke  Span- 
ish well  enough  to  do  business  when  they  took  their 
produce  to  market,  but  the  women  and  children  under- 
stood only  their  old  Indian  tongue.  Young  Juarez  thus 
grew  up  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  past.  The  simple 
herdmen  among  whom  he  lived  went  on  the  even  tenor 
of  their  way  when  Hidalgo  raised  the  standard  of  inde- 
pendence among  the  uprooted  vines  and  mulberry  trees 
of  his  parish,  though  their  hearts  were  no  doubt  stirred 
with  the  thought  that  it  was  an  Indian's  hand  which  had 
lifted  their  trailing  banner,  and  that  one  of  the  same  de- 
spised race  might  yet  plant  it  beyond  the  reach  of  a 
Spaniard's  grasp. 


286  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

The  lad  Benito  had  already  won  a  reputation  for  hon- 
esty and  enterprise  when  he  went,  an  orphan  boy,  to 
Oaxaca,  in  1818,  to  seek  his  fortune.  He  was  then  but 
twelve  years  old,  modest  and  thoughtful  beyond  his 
years.  His  great  desire  was  to  obtain  an  education,  as 
many  of  his  own  people  had  done  at  that  time.  He 
could  neither  read  nor  speak  Spanish  correctly.  He 
soon  found  a  place  as  a  house-servant  in  the  family  of 
a  teacher,  and  paid  with  his  services  for  his  board  and 
schooling.  In  a  year's  time  he  had  mastered  Spanish 
and  was  studying  Latin.  His  teacher,  who  had  resolved 
to  make  a  priest  of  young  Juarez,  put  him  in  an  eccle- 
siastical seminary  near  by. 

On  the  threshold  of  his  public  life,  Juarez  caught  a 
glimpse  of  the  deep-rooted  hatred  of  Rome  for  that 
which  leads  the  people  to  think  for  themselves.  In  1826 
the  State  Legislature  gave  expression  to  its  liberal  prin- 
ciples by  founding  the  Institute  of  Arts  and  Sciences  of 
the  State  of  Oaxaca.  The  fears  of  the  priests  were  not 
groundless :  the  institute  proved  to  be  a  focus  of  revolu- 
tion and  so-called  heresy. 

Miguel  Mendez,  a  young  friend  of  Juarez,  was  among 
the  first  to  forsake  the  seminary  for  the  broader  field  of 
thought  and  action  opening  at  the  institute.  He  too  was 
a  pure-blooded  Indian,  a  youth  whose  fine  talents  and 
noble  character  were  full  of  promise  for  his  race  and  his 
country.  A  warm  friendship  which  sprang  up  between 
the  two  young  men  no  doubt  influenced  Juarez  to  aban- 
don his  studies  for  the  priesthood.  Mendez,  however, 
was  cut  off  in  the  morning  of  his  days.  His  early  death 
made  an  impression  upon  Juarez  which  was  never  effaced 
through  those  long  and  eventful  years  in  which  he  was 
permitted  to  illustrate  to  the  world  the  great  possibilities 


MEXICAN  INDEPENDENCE. 


287 


of  the  Indian  character.  Juarez  had  found  a  home  and 
a  congenial  circle  of  friends.  His  horizon  widened ;  he 
became  an  intelligent  defender  of  those  principles  of  social 


BENITO   JUAREZ. 

and  political  reform  which  were  then  agitating  the  civil- 
ized world. 

At  twenty-three  Juarez  was  elected  to  the  chair  of 
natural  philosophy  in  the  institute,  and,  still  pursuing 
his  legal  studies,  he  came  out  in  1828  a  full-fledged  at- 
torney. From  this  time  he  rose  rapidly,  until,  after 


288  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

filling  several  positions  of  honor  and  trust,  he  was  chosen 
as  one  of  the  triumvirate  which  governed  Oaxaca  when 
it  seceded  from  the  monarchists  under  Paredes.  Finally, 
when  that  rebellion  was  crushed  and  the  republic  again 
rose  from  the  dust,  he  was  sent  to  represent  his  State  in 
the  general  Congress. 

Juarez  and  his  friends  did  not  come  a  moment  too 
soon  to  save  their  country  from  ruin.  The  selfish  ambi- 
tion of  party-leaders  overruled  every  other  consideration. 
Public  credit  was  at  its  lowest  ebb.  Nothing  more  could 
be  drained  from  the  overtaxed  and  poverty-stricken 
people,  and,  although  the  government  repudiated  its 
debts,  it  had  been  obliged  to  call  on  the  Church  to  give 
money  as  well  as  prayers  for  the  defence  of  the  country. 
An  appeal  to  the  great  banker  of  the  nation  was  a  neces- 
sity. At  this  time  it  held  uutaxable  property  in  lands, 
plate,  jewels  and  money  worth  three  hundred  millions, 
with  an  annual  income  of  twenty-five  millions,  besides 
mortgages  on  real  estate  all  over  the  country  which 
yielded  millions  more. 

In  this  time  of  national  distress  one  of  the  purest 
patriots  of  Mexico,  Farias,  proposed  that  fourteen  mil- 
lions of  dollars  should  be  raised  on  this  Church  property 
— if  possible,  by  a  loan ;  but  if  that  could  not  be  obtained, 
to  sell  enough  of  it  to  raise  that  amount.  The  bill  was 
fiercely  attacked  as  a  radical  measure.  Juarez  and  others 
pleaded  eloquently  in  its  behalf.  We  can  imagine  some 
of  their  arguments  as  they  looked  on  thousands  of  lazy 
and  dissolute  monks  fattening  on  the  spoil  of  centuries, 
while  poor  laborers  and  mechanics  forced  to  leave  their 
families  for  the  perils  and  hardships  of  the  battlefield 
had  been  so  long  unpaid  that  the  whole  army  was  in  a 
state  of  revolt.  The  burning  words  with  which  this  bill 


MEXICAN  INDEPENDENCE.  289 

was  commended  to  Congress  carried  it  through  by  a  small 
majority  among  the  politicians,  but  the  people  were  too 
wild  with  anxiety  to  know  much  of  Juarez,  their  great 
defender,  until  years  had  proved  his  worth  and  given 
him  a  place  among  the  world's  great  reformers.  The 
churchmen,  having  failed  in  the  defence  of  their  prop- 
erty, now  appealed  to  the  passions  of  the  mob.  There 
were  riots  in  the  capital  and  elsewhere.  Yucatan  se- 
ceded and  Indian  raids  harassed  the  northern  States, 
while  foreign  guns  thundering  against  Mexican  ports  along 
both  the  Gulf  and  the  Pacific  shores  added  their  terrors 
to  the  scene.  Some  great  public  calamity  was  needed  in 
this  crisis  by  which  these  warring  States  and  people 
should  be  united  by  a  sense  of  common  danger  to  de- 
fend their  country  against  a  common  enemy. 

Amid  all  this  fierce  internal  strife,  Mexico  was  drawn 
into  a  war  with  her  powerful  neighbor  the  United  States. 
Until  boundary  questions  were  settled  between  the  two 
countries,  in  1819,  the  Rio  Grande  had  been  claimed  as 
the  southern  border  of  Louisiana.  To  rejoin  this  vast 
territory,  justly  yielded  then  to  Spain,  and  to  devote  it 
to  the  extension  of  slavery,  had  become  the  aim  of  a 
large  party  in  the  United  States.  There  was  room  in 
the  cotton-  and  the  sugar-producing  lands  of  Texas  and 
the  country  west  of  it  for  a  tier  of  States  larger  than 
all  New  England,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia  and  North  Carolina. 

When  Mexico  became  a  republic,  slavery  was  prohib- 
ited in  its  first  constitution,  although  in  Texas  this  law 
had  been  a  dead  letter.  There  was  now  a  growing  pub- 
lic sentiment  against  all  class-distinctions  which  led  to 
the  re-enactment,  in  1825,  of  an  old  viceregal  law"  against 
the  sale  and  importation  of  slaves.  Two  years  later  the 

19 


290  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

twin-States  of  Texas  and  Coahuila,  governed  by  a  joint 
Legislature,  passed  a  similar  law;  freedom  was  also  given 
to  all  children  born  in  slavery  within  their  bounds  after 
that  date.  In  1829  every  slave  in  Mexico  was  uncon- 
ditionally manumitted. 

The  drift  of  these  events  caused  great  uneasiness 
among  the  American  colonists  in  Texas,  who  by  this 
time  had  so  increased  in  numbers  and  in  influence  as  toj 
have  a  controlling  voice  in  the  politics  of  that  State, 
although  its  union  with  Coahuila  was  a  constant  hin- 
drance to  their  schemes.  The  avowed  purpose  of  the 
Texans  to  wrest  the  State  from  Mexico  led  the  govern- 
ment in  1830  to  shut  the  door  against  further  immigra- 
tion from  the  North.  Contracts  between  citizens  of  the 
two  countries  were  as  far  as  possible  ignored,  and  all 
who  resisted  the  laws  were  imprisoned.  The  fierce  bor- 
der warfare  to  which  this  policy  gave  rise  led,  first,  to 
the  severing  of  the  tie  between  the  rebellious  State  and 
loyal  Coahuila,  and  then  to  the  independence  of  Texas 
and  its  recognition  by  France,  England  and  the  United 
States.  And  now  the  "  Lone  Star "  of  a  new  republic 
shone  out  across  the  stormy  sea  of  Ameriean  polities. 
How  little  hope  it  brought  to  the  friends  of  human 
progress  may  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  of  the  fifty- 
seven  signers  to  its  declaration  of  independence  fifty 
were  men  from  the  United  States  pledged  to  extend  the 
area  of  slavery.  By  a  law  passed  a  few  days  afterward 
this  institution  was  declared  to  be  perpetual. 

This  formidable  revolt  drew  the  attention  of  all  Mex- 
ico to  the  North.  President  Santa  Anna  set  out  for 
San  Antonio  de  Bejar — then  occupied  by  the  Texans — 
with  all  the  forces  he  could  muster.  The  brutality  of 
Mexican  warfare  was  displayed  in  the  siege  of  the  Ala- 


MEXICAN  INDEPENDENCE.  291 

mo,  a  strong  fortress  near  the  town.  With  the  exception 
of  three  persons — a  Avoraan,  her  child  and  a  negro  ser- 
vant— the  whole  garrison,  numbering  one  hundred  and 
eighty,  were  mercilessly  slaughtered.  This  massacre  cost 
Mexico  far  more  than  the  men  Avhose  lives  Avere  lost.  A 
few  days  afterward  the  Texans  defeated  Santa  Anna  at 
San  Jaciuto,  taking  as  spoils  of  Avar  all  the  land  Avhich 
but  a  short  time  before  the  United  States  had  offered  to 
buy,  and  extending  their  borders  soutlnvard  to  the  Rio 
Grande.  But,  greatest  loss  of  all,  the  lawlessness  and 
the  barbarity  of  her  leaders  now  stood  confessed  before 
all  the  Avorld,  alienating  those  Avhose  sympathies  she  most 
needed  and  giving  enemies  of  republicanism  fresh  occa- 
sion to  triumph. 

Mexico  had  noAV  been  for  nearly  thirty  years  strug- 
gling toAvard  freedom.  Much  of  the  time  the  cause  of 
the  people  had  been  lost  sight  of  save  by  a  few  patriots 
Avho  deserved  the  name.  The  blindness,  the  ignorance 
and  the  folly  of  her  political  leaders  had  excited  noAV  the 
Avorld's  pity  and  UOAV  its  scorn  or  anger. 

About  teu  years  after  the  scenes  of  the  Alamo  all  eyes 
Avere  turned  to  Avhere  the  forces  of  Mexico  and  those  of 
the  United  States  Avere  gathering  for  conflict  on  the  de- 
batable land  betAAreen  the  two  nations.  As  an  independ- 
ent republic,  Texas  was  much  dreaded  by  the  United 
States,  as  she  might  at  any  time  fraternize  with  Mexico 
or  accept  an  English  protectorate,  which  Avas  quite  as 
much  to  be  feared.  The  annexation  of  Texas  by  the 
United  States,  in  1845,  led  before  long  to  Avar  with 
Mexico.  That  government  had  never  recognized  the 
independence  of  her  revolted  State.  She  had  good 
reason,  besides,  to  know  that  Texas  proper  Avas  but  a 
small  part  of  the  territory  coveted  by  her  neighbor: 


292  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

California  also  was  threatened.  The  lion.  Waddy 
Thompson,  United  States  minister  to  Mexico,  testifies 
that  when  the  Mexican  government  ordered  the  expul- 
sion of  his  countrymen  from  California  "a  plot  was 
arranged,  and  was  about  being  developed  by  the  Amer- 
icans and  other  foreigners  in  that  department,  to  re-enact 
the  scenes  of  Texas."  That  he  felt  "compunctious 
visitings "  when  he  insisted  that  Mexico  should  revoke 
the  order  to  expel  those  who  were  plotting  her  ruin  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at.  Pretexts  for  war  were  not  want- 
ing when  it  was  found  that  Mexico  would  not  sell  nor 
pawn  her  property.  It  was  claimed  that  she  was  en- 
couraging Indian  raids  into  Texas,  and  the  "  accumulated 
wrongs"  of  American  citizens  were  also  dwelt  upon.  These 
could  be  atoned  for  only  by  the  payment  of  a  total  of 
fourteen  millions  of  dollars.  After  examination  by  a 
commission  appointed  by  the  two  governments  in  1840, 
five-sevenths  of  these  claims  were  found  to  be  spurious. 
Between  this  decision  and  the  actual  commencement  of 
hostilities,  in  1845,  scheming  politicians  of  the  United 
States  were  doing  their  utmost  to  gain  possession  of 
Texas  and  California. 

The  annexation  of  Texas  was  no  sooner  consummated 
than  the  Mexican  minister  in  Washington  demanded  his 
passports  and  went  home.  United  States  troops  sent  for 
the  protection  of  Texas  had  already  taken  a  position  on 
soil  claimed  by  Mexico.  While  thus  menacing  the  bor- 
der the  administration  in  Washington  despatched  an  envoy 
to  Mexico  empowered  to  make  an  offer  of  twenty-five 
millions  of  dollars  for  California.  Tempting  as  was 
this  offer,  the  Mexican  government  refused  to  hear  of 
anything  but  a  settlement  of  the  Texan  question.  This 
rebuff  was  followed  by  an  order  from  the  United  States 


MEXICAN  INDEPENDENCE.  293 

government  to  General  Taylor  to  march  directly  to  the 
Rio  Grande  and  try  war. 

It  does  not  fall  within  the  purpose  of  this  volume  to  de- 
scribe the  scenes  of  bloodshed  which  marked  this  two  years' 
conflict  with  Mexico.  Peace  was  concluded  between  the 
two  nations  at  Guadalupe  Hidalgo  in  February,  1848. 
Mexico  ceded  to  the  United  States  an  area  of  more  than 
six  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  square  miles.  In  con- 
sideration of  this,  the  United  States  paid  her  fifteen 
millions  of  dollars  and  assumed  the  payment  of  her 
debts  to  American  citizens  not  exceeding  two  and  a 
quarter  millions.*  California  had  been  seized  in  1846 
without  the  loss  of  a  single  life. 

Juarez  was  left  by  our  narrative  pleading  for  means 
to  carry  on  war  with  the  United  States,  while  Santa 
Anna,  at  the  North,  was  endeavoring  to  stay  the  enemy's 
advance.  The  clergy,  unmindful  of  the  nation's  peril, 
were  stirring  up  insurrection  at  home,  which  was  quelled 
only  by  the  return  of  Santa  Anna.  Taking  sides  with 
the  enraged  priests,  this  arch-plotter  found  the  opportu- 
nity for  self-advancement  which  he  was  ever  seeking. 
With  the  army  behind  him,  he  became  dictator,  and 
dissolved  the  Congress.  In  the  uproar  which  followed 
in  the  State  of  Oaxaca  and  elsewhere,  Juarez  was  sent 
home  to  restore  order.  He  was  immediately  elected 
governor,  which  office  he  filled  for  five  years  with  great 
acceptance. 

While  at  home  among  his  own  people  Juarez  became 
known  as  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  patriotic  statesmen 
in  the  republic.  He  found  Oaxaca  in  wild  disorder.  The 

*The  war  cost  the  United  States  the  lives  of  twenty  thousand  men 
and  the  expenditure  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  millions  of  dollars. 


294  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

conservatives  had  seized  every  office  and  bade  defiance 
to  constitutional  law.  The  State  forces  had  been  de- 
feated at  Molino  del  Rey,  and  it  had  been  invaded 
by  United  States  troops.  But  when  the  strong  hand 
of  Juarez  was  felt  at  the  helm,  rightful  authority  was 
everywhere  restored.  With  the  energy  and  practical 
common  sense  for  which  he  was  noted,  he  set  the  people 
at  work  to  provide  arms  and  ammunition  wherewith  to 
defend  their  State.  He  established  a  foundry,  and  with 
ore  dug  from  their  own  hills  a  battery  was  soon  provided. 
By  patient  and  systematic  economy  the  public  debt  was 
wiped  out  before  his  term  of  office  expired,  and  a  balance 
of  fifty  thousand  dollars  was  left  in  the  treasury.  Juarez 
retired  to  the  practice  of  law  as  poor  and  as  modest  as 
when  he  first  left  it  for  public  service,  but  more  loved 
and  honored. 

While  fulfilling  the  duties  of  his  office  as  governor 
with  unflinching  regard  for  the  public  weal,  Juarez 
offended  Santa  Anna.  When  the  latter  came  once  more 
into  power,  in  1853,  he  immediately  caused  Juarez's 
arrest.  He  was  seized  while  pleading  in  court,  and, 
without  being  allowed  to  take  leave  of  his  family,  was 
hurried  away  to  a  loathsome  prison-cell  in  the  castle 
of  San  Juan  d'Ulua,  and  from  thence  he  was  sent,  a 
penniless  exile,  on  board  of  a  British  steamer  to  work 
his  passage  to  New  Orleans.  It  was  soon  the  dictator's 
turn  to  flee  for  his  life.  The  country  called  back  its 
old  leader  from  exile,  and  in  July,  1855,  we  find  Juarez 
in  Acapulco  on  the  road  to  Mexico.  His  old  friend 
General  Alvarez  was  now  president  of  the  republic,  and 
Juarez  was  made  minister  of  justice.  He  now  found 
himself  side  by  side  with  men  who  were  clinging  to  the 
army  as  the  safeguard  of  the  nation,  together  with  those 


MEXICAN  INDEPENDENCE.  295 

who  believed  that  the  Church  should  be  independent  of 
secular  law. 

But  the  trust  of  Juarez  was  in  the  people.  Six-sev- 
enths of  them  were  at  his  back.  What  if  some  of  them 
did  not  yet  see  in  him  their  appointed  deliverer?  He 
was  none  the  less  responsible  for  their  salvation.  His 
keen  eye  had  from  the  outset  detected  the  weak  spot  in 
the  constitution  of  the  republic;  it  was  in  open  con- 
flict with  that  fundamental  principle  of  liberty  that  all 
men  are  equal  before  the  law.  Until  the  army  and  the 
clergy  were  shorn  of  those  special  privileges  which 
enabled  them  to  bid  defiance  to  constitutional  authority 
the  republic  would  be  a  failure.  What  Mexico  needed 
was  "  a  government  of  the  people  for  the  people  by  the 
people."  This  thought  was  embodied  in  the  famous  law 
for  the  administration  of  justice  now  known  by  the  name 
of  its  Indian  author — "  the  law  of  Juarez."  The  key- 
note of  progress  was  struck  on  the  passage  of  this  bill 
by  the  Mexican  Congress  in  '1857,  and  millions  of  the 
long-enslaved  people  of  Mexico  joined  in  the  shout  of 
joy  with  which  it  was  received.  This  law  awoke  the 
bitterest  opposition  from  those  classes  whose  privileges 
it  attacked. 

Juarez  was  now  dismissed  from  the  cabinet  as  a  dan- 
gerously popular  man,  to  serve  his  State  again  as  gov- 
ernor. But  his  enemies  and  his  timid  friends  thus  gave 
him  an  opportunity  to  put  his  theories  into  practice.  He 
immediately  set  to  work  to  educate  his  fellow-citizens  up 
to  the  true  idea  of  liberty.  He  built  up  the  common 
schools,  encouraged  the  Institute  and  urged  upon  the 
people  the  principle,  untried  before,  of  direct  suffrage 
in  the  election  of  their  governor.  The  grateful  people 
of  Oaxaca  exercised  their  new  privilege  by  electing 


296  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

Juarez  as  the  first  constitutional  governor  of  their  State, 
and  soon  after  lie  was  chosen  chief-justice  of  the  nation. 
Only  a  month  later,  by  an  overwhelming  pressure  of 
public  opinion,  Comonfort,  who  was  then  dictator,  was 
obliged  to  make  him  minister  of  public  government. 
One  of  the  first  duties  of  Juarez  in  this  high  position 
was  to  ask  extraordinary  powers  for  the  executive. 
Congress  hesitated,  and  but  for  the  confidence  felt  in 
Juarez  as  a  member  of  the  cabinet  the  request  would 
have  been  denied. 

The  outcome  of  the  reformer's  seed-sowing  at  this 
time  was  the  suppression  of  the  Jesuits,  the  confiscation 
of  their  property,  and  liberty  for  all  religious  creeds. 
These  radical  measures  evoked  rebellion  even  in  the 
liberal  camp,  and  Comonfort  himself  joined  the  insur- 
gents. The  triumph  of  the  "  old  regime  "  seemed  com- 
plete ;  the  capital,  the  army  and  the  treasury  were  in  their 
hands.  In  the  near  future  was  a  European  protectorate. 

As  early  as  1858  the  -clericals  had  sent  agents  to 
Europe  to  ask  for  aid  in  establishing  a  monarchy. 
They  represented  that  peace  between  the  contending 
parties  was  impossible,  that  the  liberals  would  throw 
the  country  into  the  hands  of  the  United  States,  and 
that  the  only  hope  of  warding  off  annexation  was  by 
strengthening  the  hands  of  the  Church.  Mexico  was 
deeply  in  debt  to  England,  to  France  and  to  Spain,  and 
these  powers  now  agreed  on  a  scheme  of  intervention. 
The  pretext  was  an  act  of  the  Mexican  Congress  passed 
in  1860  authorizing  a  suspension  of  payment  of  the  pub- 
lic debt  for  two  years.  It  was  a  desperate  measure  and 
unlike  Juarez,  who  proposed  it,  but  the  only  thing  pos- 
sible under  the  circumstances,  and  as  such  was  unan- 
imously approved  by  the  members. 


MEXICAN  INDEPENDENCE.  297 

The  allies  took  the  opportunity  to  carry  their  scheme 
into  effect  while  the  United  States  had  its  hands  full 
with  a  civil  war.  In  1861  their  fleet  appeared  off  Vera 
Cruz.  Finding,  on  their  arrival,  that  the  people  of 
Mexico  were  opposed  to  their  interference,  had  repudi- 
ated the  schemes  of  the  monarchists  and  if  let  alone 
could  manage  their  own  affairs,  the  English  and  the 
Spanish  forces  were  withdrawn  without  waiting  to  con- 
sult the  authorities  in  Europe.  The  Freuch,  however, 
remained.  Louis  Napoleon  was  ambitious  to  show  his 
skill  in  settling  the  vexed  Mexican  question;  he  had 
a  wife  who  was  anxious  to  show  her  devotion  to  the 
Church  of  Rome  by  rescuing  this  portion  of  the  flock 
from  the  clutches  of  the  heretics.  The  door  seemed 
open. 

After  the  departure  of  their  allies  the  French  army 
crossed  the  mountains  to  the  capital,  and  there  set-  up 
a  provisional  government.  It  was  their  decision  that 
a  prince  must  be  imported  from  Europe  to  rule  this 
refractory  people,  and  the  choice  of  the  man  was  left 
to  Napoleon  III.  With  his  inherited  taste  for  king- 
making,  the  French  emperor  gladly  set  about  the  task. 
He  soon  fixed  upon  Maximilian,  a  young  archduke 
of  Austria,  then  residing  with  his  wife,  Carlotta  of  Bel- 
gium, in  a  beautiful  and  happy  home  on  the  shores  of 
the  Adriatic. 

When  the  Mexican  ambassadors  came  to  offer  him  a 
crown,  Maximilian  looked  coldly  on  the  proposal ;  but 
Carlotta,  like  Eugenie  of  France,  loved  her  Church  and 
as  a  sincere  Catholic  was  deeply  moved  by  the  sad  story 
of  her  visitors.  They  told  of  a  beautiful  land  most 
loyal  to  the  Church ;  how  its  churches  and  its  monas- 
teries had  been  despoiled  by  ungrateful  children ;  but 


298 


ABOUT  MEXICO. 


that  now  the  nation,  though  rent  with  faction,  the  prey 
of  heretical  wolves,  needed  only  a  royal  hand  to  bring 
it  safely  and  soundly  into  the  fold  of  mother-Church. 
The  young  couple  were  persuaded  to  accept  the  invita- 


CHURCH  OF  SAN   DOMINGO,   CITY   OF   MEXICO. 

tion.  After  securing  the  benediction  of  the  pope,  they 
set  sail  for  America  on  their  pious  errand,  and  arrived 
in  Vera  Cruz  in  June,  1864.  A  magnificent  welcome 
awaited  them  from  the  clerical  party,  and  even  the  peo- 
ple, united  as  they  were  in  their  protest  against  foreign 


MEXICAN  INDEPENDENCE.  299 

intervention,  received  the  fair  Carlotta  with  smiles.  The 
royal  pair  were  heralded  from  point  to  point  on  their 
mountain-road  by  the  thunder  of  guns  and  the  waving 
of  banners.  It  was  a  time  of  great  rejoicing  to  the 
monarchists  of  Mexico  and  of  Europe. 

But  now  l>egan  the  war  of  intervention ;  the  war  of 
reform  had  ended  in  1860.  Throughout  both  these 
conflicts  Rome  displayed  her  antagonism  to  the  liberty  for 
which  Mexico  was  struggling.  To  see  this  we  have  only 
to  read  the  instructions  given  by  the  pope  to  Maximil- 
ian. Reminding  the  new-made  emperor  of  his  promise 
to  protect  the  Church,  Pope  Pius  IX.  claims  for  her  the 
right  to  rule  not  only  over  individuals,  but  over  nations, 
peoples  and  sovereigns.  He  denies  the  right  of  private 
judgment  to  the  people  and  justifies  emphatically  all  the 
cruel  persecutions  which  have  made  Rome  "  drunk  with 
the  blood  of  the  saints."  His  fierce  denunciations  re- 
mind us  of  that  impious  usurper  whom  in  prophetic 
vision  Paul  beheld  sitting  in  the  temple  of  God  and 
setting  himself  forth  as  God. 

It  was  against  foreign  intervention  of  popes  and  kings 
that  the  constitutionalists  of  Mexico  had  now  taken  up 
arms.  Stimulated  by  the  unswerving  faith  and  patriot- 
ism of  Benito  Juarez,  a  small  party  pledged  to  support 
the  constitutional  rights  of  the  people  rallied  about  him. 
He  had  voiced  the  advanced  thought  of  the  age,  and  was 
determined  to  live  and  to  die  by  it.  After  he  was  forced 
to  evacuate  the  capital,  in  1863,  he  was  for  four  years 
a  fugitive,  fleeing  from  city  to  city  with  a  handful  of 
brave  patriots  who  constituted  the  republican  govern- 
ment. What  with  timid  friends  and  malicious  foes,  ho 
seemed  at  times  to  stand  alone,  as  though  the  republic 
existed  only  in  the  faithful  heart  of  its  Indian  president. 


300  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

When  he  was  penned  up  in  some  city  on  the  borders  or 
hiding  in  the  wilderness,  if  he  could  not  do  anything 
else,  he  would  keep  alive  the  wavering  faith  of  friends 
abroad  and  write  words  of  dauntless  courage  and  sublime 
trust  in  the  future  of  his  country.  For  two  years  and  a 
half  while  Juarez  and  his  cabinet  were  in  the  State  of 
Chihuahua  they  had  no  communication  with  their  many 
friends  in  the  South  and  the  West  except  through  Seflor 
Romero,  their  faithful  minister  in  Washington. 

The  liberals  averaged  a  battle  a  day  for  a  whole  year. 
Unaided  and  unrecognized  save  when  a  friendly  cheer 
came  now  and  then  from  some  sister-republic  at  the 
North  or  the  South,  Mexico's  battle  for  freedom  was 
fought  alone.  In  our  war  for  independence  France 
came  to  the  rescue  and  turned  the  scale.  Poor  Mexico ! 
Ridiculed,  upbraided,  despaired  of,  yet  when  was  there 
ever  a  braver,  truer  struggle  for  liberty  than  was  hers  ? 
Thrilled  by  the  voice  of  a  few  patriot-statesmen — them- 
selves poor  and  hunted  like  deer  in  the  forest,  yet  deter- 
mined to  break  down  the  barriers  to  the  nation's  progress 
— six  millions  of  people  who  could  neither  read  nor  write, 
with  the  fetters  of  paganism  still  clinging  to  them,  and 
with  burdens  of  poverty  and  debt  which  found  no  help- 
er, arose  against  their  enemies  and  successfully  grappled 
with  the  craft  and  greed  and  despotism  of  Rome,  and 
the  well-trained  soldiery  of  France,  and  the  timidity 
and  ambition  of  \vould-be  leaders. 

No  trumpet  that  Juarez  blew  ever  had  an  uncertain 
sound.  With  that  tenacity  of  purpose  which  is  so  char- 
acteristic of  his  race,  the  salvation  of  the  republic  became 
with  him  a  master-passion.  At  one  time,  when  enemies 
in  disguise  were  urging  him  to  yield  to  the  mediation  of 
England,  he  saw  in  their  proposition  a  compromise  with 


MEXICAN  INDEPENDENCE.  301 

the  clericals.  His  reply  was  worthy  of  an  indomitable 
patriot.  Declaring  his  unalterable  purpose  to  be  gov- 
erned only  by  the  will  of  the  nation,  lawfully  expressed, 
he  uttered  these  memorable  words :  "  I  am  not  the  chief 
of  a  party  :  I  am  the  lawful  representative  of  the  nation. 
The  instant  I  set  aside  law  my  powers  cease  and  my  mis- 
sion is  ended.  I  cannot — I  do  not  desire  to,  and  must 
not — make  any  compromise  whatever.  The  moment  I 


MEXICAN    OFFICERS. 


should  do  so  my  constituents  would  cease  to  acknowledge 
me,  because  I  have  sworn  to  support  the  constitution, 
and  I  sustain  with  entire  confidence  the  public  opinion. 
When  this  shall  be  manifested  to  me  in  a  different  sense, 
I  shall  be  the  first  to  acknowledge  its  sovereign  delibera- 
tions." 

There  were  rifts  at  last  in  the  dark  cloud  which  hung 


302  AsorT  MKXICO. 

over  the  republic.  Discord  in  the  capital  among  it.- 
enemies  was  the  means  npjxiinted  by  G<xl  lor  the  deliv- 
erance of  the  patriots.  The  only  support  given  to  the 
empire  was  from  the  clericals,  who  hoped  that  when 
Maximilian  was  firmly  seated  on  his  throne  he  would 
restore  to  the  Church  parry  their  lost  estates.  But  the 
emperor  soon  discovered  that  he  had  been  deceived  by 
these  monarchists.  The  people  had  repudiated  the  mon- 
archical form  of  government  and  were  opposed  to  foreign 
rule  either  in  Church  or  in  State.  Although  very  friend- 
ly to  the  priests.  Maximilian  chose  to  conciliate  the  lib- 
erals, whose  power  he  recognized,  hoping  thus  to  unite 
all  parties.  To  please  them,  therefore,  he  determined  to 
sustain  the  national  laws  enacted  in  18-37.  This  gave 
mortal  offence  to  the  Church  in  Mexico,  though  the 
French  priests  who  accompanied  the  court  saw  the  pro- 
priety of  the  measure.  Several  of  the  largest  bin 
Church  property  sold  under  that  law  were  French  sub- 
The  pope  agreed  with  the  Mexican  priesthood, 
who  declared  that  they  were  worse  off  under  the  empire 
than  they  had  l>eeu  under  the  republic.  They  finally  gave 
vent  to  their  feelings  by  excommunicating  the  French  gov- 
ernment, the  French  army,  the  French  puppet  on  the 
throne  and  everv  Mexican  who  believed  in  Frenchmen. 

f 

Maximilian's  independence  had  angered  Ixmis  Xapo- 
leon  also,  and  his  forces  were  withdrawn.  This  was  a 
deathblow  to  the  empire.  Affairs  grew  desperate.  The 
emperor's  fears  of  a  revolt  among  his  Mexican  friends 
were  excited  in  order  to  draw  him  completely  to  the 
Church  prny,  who  alone  could  save  him.  Even-  effort 
was  made  to  turn  the  tide  by  awaking  the  old  fear  of 
annexation  to  the  United  States,  now  at  peace. 

What  with  the  curses  of  the  Church,  the  distrust  and 


MI-XICA  X  INDEPENDENCE.  303 

divisions  of  his  party  and  the  fierce  determination  of  the 
liberals  to  overthrow  the  empire  and  to  build  again  the 
republic,  Maximilian  grew  desperate.  Unable  to  leave 
his  post,  he  sent  his  wife,  Carlotta,  to  plead  with  Louis 
Napoleon  and  the  pope  for  aid ;  both  were  cold  and  ob- 
durate. Cuvlotta's  last  hope  was  a  personal  appeal  to  the 
head  of  the  Church,  at  the  Vatican.  But  its  doors  were 
shut  in  her  face.  All  night  the  young  wife  sat  in  an- 
guished uncertainty  in  the  waiting-room  of  His  Holiness. 
The  answer  given  her  at  last  sent  her  out  into  the  world 
a  maniac.  Weighed  down  with  anxiety  for  Carlotta, 
Maximilian  set  out  to  go  to  her  relief,  but  his  sense 
of  duty  to  his  friends  impelled  him  to  remain  and  share 
their  fate. 

The  French  army  having  left  Mexico,  the  emperor 
retreated  to  Queretaro ;  fearing  to  remain  in  the  capital, 
he  chose  this  city  because  of  its  adherence  to  the  clerical 
party.  Here  he  was  entrenched  in  a  fortress-like  church 
surrounded  by  high  walls  enclosing  beautiful  gardens. 
Had  it  not  been  for  the  treachery  of  one  of  his  own 
generals,  he  might  have  escaped  to  a  place  of  greater 
safety ;  but  he  was  betrayed  to  the  liberal  army  under 
Juarez.  He  was  condemned  to  death  as  an  enemy  of 
the  country,  on  account  of  a  cruel  edict,  promulgated 
by  him  two  years  before,  outlawing  all  republicans. 
Every  effort  was  made  to  save  him  by  the  consuls  of  the 
European  governments,  the  United  States  joining  in  the 
general  protest  against  this  sacrifice  of  a  comparatively 
innocent  man.  Carlotta  was  not  there  to  plead  for  her 
husband's  life,  but  the  wife  of  Prince  Salm-Salm,  one  of 
Maximilian's  staff-officers,  flung  herself  at  the  feet  of  the 
Indian  president  to  plead  for  the  life  of  her  sovereign. 
Juarez  wept  as  he  put  aside  her  clinging  hands  and 


304  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

turned  away.  He  did  what  he  believed  to  be  his  duty 
to  his  country.  Maximilian  was  shot  to  death,  with 
his  associates  Miramon  and  Mexia,  in  June,  1867. 

Up  to  this  time,  though  religious  liberty  had  been 
formulated  as  law,  it  never  had  been  realized  in  practice. 
The  Church  party,  deprived  of  the  Inquisition  and  of 
the  wealth  which  made  them  the  landlords  and  the  bank- 
ers of  the  nation,  now  found  a  stronghold  in  the  super- 
stitions of  the  people  whom  they  had  trained.  When 
an  avenue  was  to  be  lengthened  in  the  capital,  a  large 
convent  was  found  to  be  in  the  way.  Congress  ordered 
the  building  to  be  torn  down,  but  the  laborers  employed, 
overawed  by  the  priests,  who  threatened  excommunica- 
tion, refused  to  obey  orders.  Finding  himself  powerless 
to  enforce  the  law,  Juarez  went  to  his  old  home  in  Oa- 
xaca,  drilled  a  regiment  of  Indians  and  came  inarching 
back  with  them  to  the  capital,  where  they  went  to  work 
with  a  will,  unhindered  by  the  populace.  By  such  ex- 
pedients as  these,  and  in  the  face  of  many  difficulties, 
Mexico  at  last  was  established  on  a  republican  basis. 

Since  the  war  of  independence  began,  under  Hidalgo, 
in  1810,  ten  changes  had  taken  place  in  the  form  of 
government.  More  than  fifty  persons  had  been  empe- 
rors, dictators  and  presidents.  Repeatedly,  two  distinct 
governments  had  existed  at  the  same  time,  at  war  each 
with  the  other.  Secession  of  States  was  a  chronic  trou- 
ble ;  Texas  and  Yucatan  were  altogether  lost.  Both  of 
the  emperors  were  shot.  There  had  been  more  than 
fifty  revolutions  and  about  three  hundred  pronunda- 
mientos.  The  first  great  principle  evolved  from  this 
chaos  was  that  Mexico  should  be  an  independent  nation ; 
the  second,  that  sovereign  power  should  be  vested  in  the 
people.  The  divisions  in  the  great  national  party  advo- 


MEXICAN  INDEPENDENCE.  305 

eating  democracy  are  mostly  to  be  traced  to  the  machina- 
tions of  the  Church  party  in  its  struggles  for  power,  now 
throwing  its  weight  on  one  side  of  the  scale  and  now 
on  the  other  with  the  dominant  idea  of  securing  the  con- 
trol of  the  nation.  In  1873-74  the  liberal  constitution 
framed  in  1867  was  so  amended  and  improved  as  to  be 
in  several  respects  superior  to  its  model,  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States.  It  is  now  the  organic  law  of  Mex- 
ico. 

Juarez,  the  unswerving  friend  of  republican  institu- 
tions, died  in  office  in  1872,  after  having  been  for  four- 
teen years  president  of  the  republic.  His  pure  character, 
his  fidelity  to  trust  and  his  lofty  patriotism  have  given 
him  the  title  of  "  the  Washington  of  Mexico."  In  1880, 
Manuel  Gonzales,  another  Indian,  was  elected  to  the 
presidential  chair,  being  the  first  man  who  has  taken 
that  seat  without  bloodshed. 

Mexico  is  now  a  confederation  of  twenty-seven  States, 
one  Territory  and  a  federal  district.  The  legislative 
power  is  vested  in  a  Congress  composed  of  a  House  of 
Representatives  and  a  Senate.  All  respectable  male 
adults  are  voters,  sending  one  member  to  Congress  for 
every  twenty  thousand  inhabitants ;  these  members  hold 
their  places  two  years.  The  president  holds  office  for 
four  years,  and  cannot  be  re-elected  without  an  interval 
of  four  years  after  his  term  has  expired.  The  present 
executive  is  General  Diaz,  who  took  the  chair  December 
1,  1884.  "Except  the  immortal  Juarez,"  says  a  mis- 
sionary observer,  "no  man  was  ever  more  generally 
beloved  and  honored  than  General  Diaz,  a  tall,  dark, 
half-Indian  hero."  The  members  of  his  cabinet  are 
nominal  liberals,  "but  Romanists  have  taken  fresh 
courage  since  his  inauguration,  and  are  openly  clamor- 

20 


306  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

ing  for  an  avenger  of  Maximilian  to  arise."  There  is 
much  said  of  perfidy  and  abuse  of  power.  The  Prot- 
estants are  daily  accused  of  plotting  to  annex  Mexico  to 
the  United  States.  The  enemies  of  progress  and  reform 
are  still  found  in  the  bosom  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 
But  with  a  free  press,  free  schools  and  a  free  gospel 
Mexico  cannot  go  back  to  the  darkness  of  the  past. 
She  may  fall  for  a  time,  but  the  prophecy  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  for  the  United  States  will  yet  be  realized  for 
Mexico :  "  This  nation,  under  God,  shall  have  a  new 
birth  of  freedom,  and  a  government  of  the  people  for 
the  people  and  by  the  people  which  shall  not  perish 
from  the  earth." 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

TO  MEXICO  BY  RAIL. 

THE  first  object  which  meets  the  voyager's  eye  as  he 
approaches  Mexico  from  the  east  by  sea  and  nears 
the  city  of  Vera  Cruz  is  the  white  cone  of  snow-crowned 
Orizaba — "Mountain  of  the  Star" — as  it  rises  behind  the 
city,  the  giant  leader  of  a  file  of  volcanoes  crossing  the 
continent  in  this  latitude.  Flat  upon  the  beach  before 
him  lies  the  harborless  town,  the  Villa  Rica  de  la  Vera 
Cruz—"  Rich  City  of  the  True  Cross  "—of  Cortez.  Its 
white  towei-s  and  walls  and  gayly-tinted  roofs  and  domes, 
mingled  with  tufted  and  feathery  palms,  give  to  the  pict- 
ure an  attractiveness  not  sustained  upon  a  nearer  view. 
The  illusion  is  dispelled  on  entering  the  city,  which  is 
dreaded  by  strangers  as  the  abode  of  miasms,  the  home 
of  the  deadly  vomito.  It  is,  however,  regularly  laid  out, 
with  streets  crossing  at  right  angles,  and  with  houses  two 
stories  in  height,  built  of  coral-rock  stuccoed.  The  buz- 
zards perched  lazily  on  every  roof  and  every  tower,  and 
even  on  the  golden  crosses  of  the  churches,  seem  sombre 
symbols  of  danger  to  the  visitor.  There  is  no  true  har- 
bor here  offering  shelter  in  rough  weather.  From  No- 
vember to  May  the  "  northers  "  sweep  the  Gulf  with 
resistless  fury,  often  strewing  the  coast  with  wrecks.  But 
these  wild  winds  no  sooner  begin  to  rage  than  the  city 
is  cleared  of  the  dreaded  vomito,  that  scourge  of  these 

307 


308 


ABOUT  MEXICO. 


hot  lowlands;  so  that,  next  to  the  buz/anl-;,  which  find 
business  all  the  year  round  as  the  only  scavengers,  the 
northers  are  the  best  friends  of  Vera  Cruz. 

Not  far  from  the  city,  and  separated  from  it  by  an 
arm  of  the  sea,  is  the  island-fortress  of  San  Juan  de 
Ulua.  It  is  a  picturesque  old  pile,  said  to  have  cost  the 
Spanish  government  forty  millions  of  dollars.  This  ex- 


STREET   IN   VEKA   CRUZ. 


travagance  seems  to  have  been  quite  a  source  of  vexation 
to  Charles  V.,  its  first  owner.  Standing  one  morning  at 
a  window  of  his  palace  in  Spain  about  the  time  the 
architect's  bills  came  in,  he  is  said  to  have  pointed  his 
field-glass  toward  America,  and,  looking  through  it  in- 
tently for  a  moment,  to  have  exclaimed  with  grim  humor, 
"  Surely,  a  building  which  has  cost  so  much  should  be 
seen  above  the  horizon."  This  castle  was  the  last  foot- 
hold of  Spain  in  Mexico,  having  held  out  against  the 
revolutionists  several  years  longer  than  any  other  place. 
The  first  thought  of  every  one  who  comes  to  Vera 


TO  MEXICO  BY  RAIL.  309 

Cruz  is  how  to  find  the  way  out  of  it.  Until  1806  the 
road  from  this  city  to  the  capital — a  distance  of  over  two 
hundred  and  sixty  miles — was  little  better  than  a  mule- 
path.  The  Mexican  Railway,  which  now  links  the  two 
cities,  is  one  of  the  greatest  marvels  of  engineering  skill 
in  the  world.  It  was  thirty-six  years  in  building,  and 
was  opened  on  New  Year's  Day,  1873.  Crossing  the 
arid  levels  of  the  ticrrci  calicnte  ("hot  lands")  bordering 
the  Gulf,  the  road  reaches  a  point  about  forty-five  miles 
west  of  Vera  Crux,  when  it  suddenly  begins  to  climb  the 
first  terrace  or  the  foothills  of  that  great  mountain-mass 
crowded  into  the  taper-end  of  North  America.  The  air 
grows  cold  and  bracing  and  every  breath  is  laden  with 
the  perfume  of  innumerable  flowers.  The  roadside  is 
lined  with  lofty  palms.  Morning-glories  of  luxuriant 
growth,  with  rainbow-tinted  flowers,  run  riot  among  the 
trees,  and  orchids,  or  plants  of  the  air,  finding  no  room 
in  the  teeming  soil  beneath,  take  wings  like  strange  bright 
birds  and  nestle  on  the  crotches  of  the  trees  or  cling  to 
their  branches. 

The  road  lies  through  vast  coifee-plantations  as  rich  in 
fruit  and  flower  and  leaf  as  though  they  were  in  their 
own  native  Asia.  Fields  of  corn  overtop  the  low-roofed 
Indian  huts,  which,  half  hidden  in  the  waving  verdure, 
seem  to  be  surrounded  by  some  glittering  phalanx 
of  old-time  warriors  with  tossing  plumes  and  robes  of 
green.  Here  perpetual  summer  reigns,  and  the  fruits 
and  the  flowers  of  every  zone  flourish  side  by  side.  Four 
times  each  year  the  reaper  may  follow  the  sower  and 
gather  crops  yielding  from  one  hundredfold  to  four 
hundredfold.  On  the  skirts  of  Orizaba  there  are  majes- 
tic forests  of  mahogany,  rosewood  and  other  valuable 
trees.  Here  and  there  in  some  quiet  valley  or  on  the 


310  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

shelves  of  the  mountains  are  some  of  the  finest  estates 
in  the  world.  One  of  these  haciendas  lies  eleven  thou- 
sand feet  above  the  sea.  Herds  of  cattle  feed  in  the  pas- 
tures far  from  any  human  habitation. 

From  many  points  the  traveler  looks  down  into  some 
deep  gorge  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  the  home  of  a  laughing 
mountain-stream.  He  sees  far  below  him,  perhaps  on  a 
level  with  the  sea,  a  bit  of  tierra  caliente  dropped  into  a 
seam  of  the  rocky  mass,  rejoicing  in  the  warmth  and 
luxuriance  of  the  perpetual  spring  which  is  possible  in 
such  shelter.  From  some  cabin  down  there  the  Indians 
come  toiling  up  laden  with  luscious  fruits  to  sell  at  the 
nearest  railroad  station — oranges  golden  bright  in  a 
pretty  home-made  basket  which  goes  with  the  fruit, 
great  bunches  of  bananas,  pineapples  rich  and  melting, 
at  three  cents  apiece,  and  other  fruits  which  the  sunny 
South  has  so  entirely  monopolized  that  they  are  unknown 
to  us.  The  venders  make  a  picture  to  remember — cop- 
per-colored faces,  heavy,  straight  black  hair  and  dark, 
melancholy  eyes.  The  white  cotton  garments  of  the 
men  and  their  big  straw  hats  are  fashions  centuries  old, 
but  the  bright-colored  woolen  blanket  (serape)  over  the 
left  shoulder  and  the  long  cigar  are  Spanish  innovations. 
The  women  wear  short  calico  dresses  and  a  small  scarf 
(called  a  reboza)  of  silk  or  cotton,  fringed  at  the  ends, 
wrapped  about  the  head  and  the  shoulders.  This  is 
the  cradle  of  the  inevitable  baby  or  serves  as  a  pouch  for 
some  other  heavy  load.  As  she  goes  to  market  the  In- 
dian woman  shows  the  industry  and  the  patience  of  her 
race  by  hands  busied  with  her  knitting  or  in  picking  the 
chickens  she  has  brought  to  sell. 

But  we  are  off  the  track.  The  Mexican  Railway 
passes  through  but  few  large  towns.  Orizalm,  a  sleepy 


TO  MEXICO  BY  RAIL. 


311 


old  place  nestling  picturesquely  on  the  slope  of  the 
mountains,  is  a  paradise  for  invalids,  with  its  quaint 
houses,  whose  widespreading  eaves  almost  elbow  each 
other  across  the  clean  but  narrow  streets.  Tlascala 
(Tlaxcalla)  is  left  a  little  to  the  south  as  the  train  moves 


INDIAN  HUT   IN   THE   TIERRA   CALJENTE. 

on  and  up.  In  one  place  a  rise  is  made  of  four  thousand 
feet  in  twenty-five  miles.  As  the  road  climbs  higher  and 
higher  one  stratum  of  climate  after  another  is  passed, 
till  the  temperate  region  is  left  far  below,  and  the  cool 
breeze  blowing  in  the  car  window  seems  to  come  from 
some  latitude  far  to  the  north.  The  road,  hewn  out  of 
the  solid  rock,  seems  to  cling  to  the  bare  ribs  of  Mother 
Earth.  Now  it  runs  like  a  slender  thread  along  the 


312  AJUH'T  MHXICO. 

face  of  a  tremendous  cliff,  no\v  doubles  on  itself  till  the 
locomotive  can  stare  into  the  windows  of  the  rear  car, 
and  now  at  a  dizzy  height  it  spans  some  abyss  with  a 
bridge  which  looks  like  a  cobweb  suspended  in  the  air. 
After  climbing  about  eight  thousand  feet  into  cloudland, 
the  track  begins  to  dip  toward  the  great  Valley  of  Mex- 
ico. The  air  is  thin  and  pure,  the  mountains  are  bare  and 
bleak,  with  trees  of  stunted  growth  and  open  levels  of 
pasture-land  from  whose  heights  are  seen  still  loftier 
summits  crowned  with  eternal  snow. 

One  of  the  finest  views  of  Orizaba  the  peerless  is  seen 
from  these  high  grounds.  Dr.  Haven  thus  describes  it : 
"How  superbly  it  lifts  its  shining  cone  into  the  shining 
heaven !  Clouds  had  lingered  about  it  on  our  way  hith- 
er, touching  now  its  top,  now  swinging  around  its  sides, 
but  here  they  are  burned  up,  and  only  this  pinnacle  of 
ice  shoots  up  fourteen  thousand  feet  before  your  amazed 
uplifted  eyes.  Mont  Blanc,  at  Chamouni,  has  no  such 
solitariness  of  position,  nor  rounded  perfection,  nor  rich 
surroundings.  Everything  conspires  to  give  this  the 
chief  place  among  the  mountains  of  the  earth." 

Passing  on  and  down,  the  City  of  Mexico  is  reached 
at  last,  from  the  north.  The  general  direction  of  the 
track  is  westward,  but  it  enters  the  capital  near  the  fa- 
mous shrine  of  Our  Lady  of  Guadaloupe.  The  train 
which  started  at  midnight  from  Yera  Cruz  passed  the 
mountains  by  daylight  not  only  to  give  the  passengers 
an  opportunity  to  enjoy  the  scenery,  but  to  avoid  the 
car-wreckers  and  brigands  who  so  infest  the  country 
that  a  guard  of  soldiers  is  necessary  on  every  train,  be- 
sides the  armed  and  mounted  police  at  each  station  on 
the  road.  The  run  from  the  coast  to  the  capital  is 
now  made  in  twentv  lx>ur<. 


314  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

The  City  of  Mexico  is  beautiful  for  situation  from 
"whatever  point  it  is  seen.  It  stands  on  the  lowest  level 
of  the  valley,  about  seven  thousand  feet  above  the  sea, 
and  forms  a  square  like  a  great  checker-board,  nearly 
three  miles  in  length  each  way.  Being  no  longer  on  an 
island,  the  causeways  have  long  since  disappeared,  and 
instead  are  paseos,  or  raised  paved  roads,  planted  on 
each  side  with  double  rows  of  trees  and  running  far  out 
into  the  countiy.  The  white  rim  of  Lake  Tezcuco  is 
now  nearly  three  miles  beyond  the  city  walls,  but,  though 
so  shrunken  and  shallow,  it  still  forms  a  beautiful  object 
in  the  landscape,  reflecting  in  its  sparkling  waters  the 
snowy  mountain-peaks  of  Popocatepetl  and  Iztacoihuatl 
as  they  tower  seventeen  miles  away  eastward  from  the 
capital. 

The  famous  chinampas,  or  floating  gardens,  are  seldom 
seen — at  least,  they  have  ceased  to  float ;  but  there  are 
multitudes  of  well-anchored  islands  dotting  the  lakes  of 
Chalco  and  Xochimilco,  in  the  environs  of  the  city  and 
lining  its  water-ways.  The  fruits,  flowers  and  vegetables 
which  grow  on  their  rich  soil  vie  with  those  which  were 
brought  to  the  city  markets  in  Montezuma's  day. 

Frequently  the  owner's  humble  cabin  is  seen  half 
buried  in  the  luxuriant  crops,  which  always  grudge  it 
room,  while  moored  to  the  shore  or  afloat  on  the  tide 
is  the  rude  scow  which  carries  the  produce  to  market. 
Crowds  of  these  boats  find  their  way  thither  by  the  Grand 
Canal,  running  south-east  from  Tezcuco  to  Lake  Chalco, 
a  distance  of  about  forty  miles.  The  level  of  the  latter 
is  so  much  above  that  of  the  former  that  there  is  quite 
a  swift  current  running  toward  the  city,  and  the  loaded 
boats  have  an  easy  time  going  to  market;  but  coming 
back  they  are  j>oled  along  by  swarthy  boatmen  or  women, 


316  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

the  depth  in  lake  or  in  channel  nowhere  being  over  five 
feet. 

The  markets  of  Mexico  are  something  wonderful, 
especially  in  the  way  of  flowers.  Huge  bouquets  of  the 
choicest  roses,  pinks,  geraniums,  heliotrope,  mignonette — 
the  flowers  of  every  zone,  in  fact — artistically  arranged, 
sell  for  a  trifle.  Everybody  buys  and  wears  flowers.  The 
pure  smokeless  air  and  the  even  temperature  bring 
these  exquisite  flowers  to  full  perfection  in  size,  tint  and 
color.  There  are  fruits  of  all  lands — apples,  pears,  cher- 
ries, plums,  of  the  North,  with  figs,  oranges,  pomegran- 
ates, pineapples,  bananas,  of  the  South,  with  all  the  berries 
familiar  to  us,  and  some  luscious  productions  of  nature 
which  can  be  known  only  by  a  visit  to  this  highly-favored 
land.  Everything  is  cheap  and  abundant.  A  double  price 
is  generally  asked  by  the  huckster,  who  expects  to  be 
beaten  down  and  yields  with  Mexican  politeness  to  the 
buyer's  urgency. 

The  city  is  still  partially  supplied  with  water  from  t1\e 
famous  old  spring  at  Chapultepec  for  which  so  many 
battles  have  been  fought.  Aztec  supremacy  began  with 
its  capture  and  ended  after  a  desj>erate  resistance  when 
Cortez  cut  the  aqueduct  in  1520.  Its  health-giving 
streams  are  now  flowing  again.  The  aquadors,  or  water- 
carriers,  throng  to  fill  their  earthen  pots  just  as  they  did 
in  the  days  of  Cortez,  and  the  bent  figures  with  their 
loads  strapped  on  their  backs  look  as  though  they  had 
just  stepped  out  of  the  pictures  on  some  old  Egyptian 
monument. 

There  are  no  more  beautiful  objects  in  the  city  than 
the  public  fountains.  One  is  built  of  hewn  stone  richly 
decorated  with  carvings  and  statuary  and  polished  until 
it  reflects  the  sunlight  like  some  bright  metal.  The 


318  ABOl'T  MKXK'U. 

water,  cool  and  clear,  flows  in  streams  from  every  part 
of  the  marvelous  structure,  sparkling,  dripping,  splash- 
ing, until  it  seems  like  some  gigantic  water-nymph  just 
emerging  with  plentitude  of  blessings  from  the  waves. 

The  centre  of  the  city  is  the  Grand  Plaza,  a  plot  of 
ground  about  a  thousand  feet  square  with  a  beautiful 
little  garden  in  the  centre.  There  are  pleasant  seats 
among  the  tall  old  trees,  statuary  and  fountains  toss- 
ing their  bright  spray  into  the  air.  There  is  a  music- 
stand  about  which  the  crowd  gather  in  the  evenings. 

It  is  not  yet  a  hundred  years  since  the  streets  of  this 
city  were  lighted  at  night,  and  scarcely  twenty-five  since 
a  moonlight  walk  was  safe  for  either  ladies  or  gentlemen. 
They  are  as  orderly  now  as  those  of  any  city  in  America. 
The  policemen  stand  with  lanterns,  about  a  hundred 
yards  apart,  all  over  the  city. 

Leading  away  from  the  western  side  of  the  Plaza  is 
the  San  Cosme  avenue,  along  which  Cortez  and  his  dis- 
comfited army  fled  through  the  darkness  and  the  rain  of 
that  sad  night  in  1520.  The  palace  he  built  is  still  owned 
by  his  descendants. 

On  the  way  to  the  Paseo  Nuevo  is  the  Alameda,  a 
beautiful  forest-park  of  ten  or  twelve  acres  surrounded 
by  high  stone  walls  and  a  moat.  It  is  the  chief  prome- 
nade of  the  city.  Well-kept  walks  and  carriage-roads 
wind  about  under  the  grand  old  beeches,  and  a  massive 
fountain  plays  in  the  centre.  Here  the  birds  have  built 
their  nests  and  reared  their  young  undisturbed  for  gen- 
erations, and  the  place  is  vocal  with  twitter  and  song  and 
merry  shouts  of  children. 

There  are  sad  memories  haunting  almost  every  corner 
of  Mexico,  and  this  beautiful  Alameda  is  no  exception. 
Long  ago,  when  Rome  was  mistress  here,  the  fires  of  the 


TO  MEXICO  BY  KAIL.  319 

Inquisition  blazed  iu  this  spot,  and  here,  in  the  sight  of 
assembled  thousands  who  came  as  for  a  summer  holiday, 
fifty  victims  were  burned  in  a  grand  auto  da/6.  In  the 
square  on  which  stands  the  convent  of  San  Domingo 
were  the  Inquisition  buildings,  under  the  care  of  Domin- 
ican friars ;  this  is  now  occupied  by  the  Methodist  mis- 
sion. In  this  square  not  long  ago  was  an  iron  post, 
known  as  "  the  burning-post,"  where  heretics  were  dealt 
with  by  the  Holy  Office.  The  latest  public  execution  was 
in  1815,  when  General  Jose  Morelos  was  put  to  death 
here.  The  old  Jesuit  church  in  this  square  is  now 
used  as  a  custom-house. 

One  hundred  years  ago  Mexico  was  a  city  of  mon- 
asteries and  churches.  Full  one-half  the  space  enclosed 
within  its  walls  was  covered  with  these  various  buildings, 
some  of  them  occupying  from  five  to  twenty  acres  of 
ground.  They  were  magnificent  structures,  the  abodes 
of  luxury  and  ease.  As  the  Church  increased  in  wealth 
and  influence  the  monasteries  and  the  convents  are  said 
to  have  been  hotbeds  of  vice  and  sedition.  When 
Comonfort  was  in  power,  it  was  found  that  many  of 
these  buildings  were  interfering  with  public  improve- 
ment, and  he  began  the  work  of  demolition  by  ordering 
a  street  to  be  cut  through  the  convent  of  San  Francisco, 
one  of  the  most  elegant  in  the  city.  In  a  part  of  the 
monastery  thus  divided  we  find  another  Protestant  church 
worshiping.  Some  of  the  exquisitely -polished  stones  of 
this  edifice  are  said  to  have  been  preserved  from  the  wreck 
of  Montezuma's  house,  and  many  of  the  pillars  are  known 
to  have  been  the  work  of  Aztec  hands.  This  vast  mon- 
astery was  one  of  the  finest  buildings  of  its  kind  in 
America.  It  was  more  honored  than  any  other,  as  the 
place  where  the  body  of  Cortez  lay  in  state. 


320  ABOUT  MK 

The  grandest  church -build  ing  on  this  continent  is  the 
cathedral,  facing  the  Plaza.  Its  white  towers,  two  hun- 
dred feet  high,  overtop  every  building  in  the  city.  Its 
mere  shell  cost  two  millions  of  dollars,  and  that,  too,  in 
a  land  and  an  age  when  labor  was  very  cheap.  Scarcely 
a  church  interior  in  the  world  can  surpass  this  in  rich 
and  costly  decoration.  The  wealth  of  "the  golden  realm 
of  Mexico"  was  poured  out  here  without  stint.  Heavy 
marbles  carved  by  the  bast  masters  of  Europe  were 
brought  over  the  sea  and  carried  by  surefooted  mules 
over  the  dizzy  heights  of  the  sierras.  The  elaborately- 
carved  choir  was  made  in  Mexico,  and  is  estimated  to  be 
worth  a  million  of  dollars.  This  edifice  was  begun  in 
1573,  by  order  of  Philip  II.,  and  finished  in  about  a 
hundred  years.  It  is  of  the  Doric  order,  with  three 
entrance-doors  on  the  principal  facade,  flanked  by  two 
square  open  towers  and  crowned  with  a  dome  of  fine 
proportions.  At  the  base  of  one  of  these  towers  is  the 
celebrated  Aztec  calendar,  an  enormous  granite  monolith, 
which  was  removed  in  1790  from  the  place  in  the  Pla/a 
where  it  had  IK-CH  buried  by  the  orders  of  Cortez. 

The  cathedral  occupies  the  site  of  the  great  Aztec 
temple,*  and  is  five  hundred  feet  long  by  four  hundred 
and  twenty  wide.  "The  first  object  that  presents  itself 
to  one  entering  it  is  the  altar,  erected  on  a  platform  in 
the  centre  of  the  building;  it  is  made  of  highly-wrought 
and  highly-polished  silver  and  covered  with  a  profusion 
of  crosses  and  ornaments  of  pure  gold.  On  each  side  of 
this  altar  runs  a  balustrade,  enclosing  a  space  about  eight 
feet  wide  and  eighty  or  a  hundred  feet  long.  The  bal- 
usters are  about  four  feet  high  and  four  inches  thick  in 

*  In  1881  the  outlying  corner-stones  of  this  old  building  were  dis- 
covered by  workmen  digging  in  the  neighborhood. 


TO   MEXICO  BY  RAIL.  321 

the  largest  part ;  the  hand-rail,  from  six  to  eight  inches 
wide.  Upon  the  top  of  this  hand-rail,  at  the  distance 
of  six  or  eight  feet  apart,  are  images,  beautifully  wrought 
and  about  two  feet  high,  used  as  candelabras.  All  of 
these — the  balustrade,  the  hand-rail  and  the  images — are 
made  of  a  compound  of  gold,  silver  and  copper,  more 
valuable  than  silver.  It  is  said  that  an  oifer  was  once 
refused  to  take  this  balustrade  and  replace  it  with  another 
of  exactly  the  same  size  and  workmanship,  of  pure  silver, 
and  to  give  half  a  million  of  dollars  besides.  As  you 
walk  through  the  building,  on  either  side  there  are  dif- 
ferent apartments  filled  from  floor  to  ceiling  with  paint- 
ings, statues,  vases,  huge  candlesticks,  waiters  and  a 
thousand  other  articles  of  gold  and  silver."*  The 
jeweled  vestments  of  the  Virgin  enshrined  in  this  mag- 
nificent building  are  said  to  have  cost  three  millions  of 
dollars,  while  the  garments  of  the  priests  who  minister 
to  her  on  state  occasions  are  proportionate  in  worth,  and 
so  heavy  that  the  wearers  can  scarcely  stand  under  their 
weight  when  pronouncing  the  benediction.  The  cathe- 
dral was  but  one  of  seventy  or  eighty  churches  in  the 
City  of  Mexico  whose  wealth  and  splendor  made  them 
remarkable  in  an  age  when  the  Church  claimed  a  mo- 
nopoly of  the  treasures  of  the  world. 

When  Cortez  was  demolishing  old  Tenochtitlan,  as 
the  city  was  then  called,  it  was  found  to  be  impossible  to 
break  up  some  of  the  heathen  monuments  with  which  it 
abounded,  and  he  therefore  ordered  them  to  be  buried  in 
the  great  square.  Besides  the  calendar  stones,  the  old 
stone  of  sacrifice,  with  a  heavy  yoke  once  used  in  hold- 
ing fast  the  victim,  was  dug  up  in  1790,  also  a  huge 
stone  image  of  Humming-Bird,  with  some  of  the  carved 

*  Mexico  and  the  United  States,  by  G.  D.  Abbott,  LL.D. 
21 


322 


ABOUT  MEXICO. 


capitals  of  the  massive  pillars  of  his  temple.  These 
relics  are  now  on  exhibition  in  the  National  Museum 
with  many  other  relics  of  that  day,  such  as  Montezuma's 
feather-shield  and  cloak  and  the  silken  banner  once  borne 
before  his  conqueror.  The  Mexican  government  has 
forbidden  the  exportation  of  the  relics  with  which  the 


MERCHANTS'  BAZAAR,  MEXICO. 

land  abounds,  but  antiquarians  can   still  easily  reap  a 
rich  harvest  on  this  historic  ground. 

The  houses  of  Mexico  are  seldom  more  than  two 
stories  high.  They  are  built  about  a  patio — an  inte- 
rior open  square  surrounded  by  verandas.  The  entrance 
from  the  street  is  into  this  court,  from  which  the  upper 
stories  are  reached.  The  style  of  architecture  is  Moor- 


TO  MEXICO  BY  RAIL. 


323 


ish,  and  each  block  presents  a  solid  front,  with  windows 
and  one  door  opening  into  each  separate  dwelling.  The 
soil  is  very  spongy,  and,  what  with  floods  and  earth- 
quakes, many  of  the  foundations  have  sunken ;  so  that 


SELLER   OF   BIRD-CAGES,   MEXICO. 

church-towers  lean  and  doorways  may  be  a  foot  below 
the  pavement.  During  the  heavy  rains  of  September, 
Lake  Tezcuco  is  apt  to  overflow  and  the  city  to  be 
flooded.  Indeed,  the  sidewalks  are  always  damp  upon 
the  shady  side.  The  lower  story  of  the  houses  being 
damp  and  dark,  it  is  the  custom  to  leave  it  to  the  ser- 


324  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

vants,  while  the  family  are  domiciled  in  the  second  floor, 
and  in  fine  weather  betake  themselves  to  the  roof. 

All  the  substantial  buildings  in  Mexico  are  bright  with 
color.  Those  which  are  not  white  stucco  are  tinted  in 
gray,  buff  or  pale  green  enlivened  with  various  shades 
of  red.  Some  of  the  churches  could  be  called  pink. 
With  blocks  built  with  one  solid  front,  it  is  quite  a 
relief  to  the  eye  to  see  a  gray  house  adjoining  one 
faced  with  blue  encaustic  tilas  or  pale  green.  Massive 
carvings  and  decorations  in  mosaic-work,  balconies  and 
latticed  windows  are  also  quite  effective  and  do  much  to 
vary  the  otherwise  sombre  architecture. 

The  houses  in  the  suburbs  are  gay  with  flowering 
vines,  and  almost  any  open  doorway  in  the  city  will 
give  a  glimpse  of  the  patio,  or  courtyard,  with  its  cool 
verandas  and  bright  flowers  and  shrubbery  around  a 
plashing  fountain. 

Among  the  improvements  projected  by  Maximilian 
was  the  rebuilding  of  Mexico  on  a  more  healthful  site. 
The  city  is  still  growing  westward,  according  to  his  wise 
plan,  and  the  high  grounds  in  the  suburbs  have  quite  a 
modern  appearance.  Thousands  of  new  houses  are  going 
up  and  old  ones  have  been  remodeled,  while  real  estate 
has  almost  doubled  its  value  since  the  life-blood  from 
the  world's  great  centres  began  to  pulsate  through  the 
railroads — those  great  continental  arteries. 

The  lumbering  diligence  will  soon  disappear  from  city 
and  country,  with  the  picturesque  brigaud,  and  the  mul- 
titude of  beggars  who  from  time  immemorial  have  in- 
fested the  capital  will  vanish  in  that  happy  day  when 
Yankee  ploughs  and  Protestant  Sunday-schools  shall  be 
domesticated  throughout  the  laud.  These  paupers  have 
already  been  set  to  work  on  railroads  and  other  public 


TO  MEXICO  BY  BAIL.  325 

improvements,  and  a  house  of  correction  for  young 
delinquents  is  helpful  in  reclaiming  some  of  the  less 
hardened  villains. 

From  statements  recently  published  we  learn  that 
"  primary  education  has  been  declared  compulsory,  but 
the  law  is  not  enforced.  In  1884  there  were  in  Mexico 
8986  public  elementary  schools,  with  nearly  500,000 
pupils,  and  138  for  superior  and  professional  education, 
with  an  attendance  of  17,200.  The  government  spent 
on  education  in  1884  more  than  $3,000,000."  Thus  we 


MEXICAN   MARKET-WOMAN. 

see  that  education  has  made  slow  but  steady  progress 
since  the  separation  of  Church  and  State,  in  1857.  At 
that  time  the  University  of  Mexico — entirely  a  Church 
institution — was  abolished  by  the  republicans,  and  a 
number  of  special  schools  took  its  place  for  law,  med- 
icine, art,  science,  agriculture,  mines,  military  and  civil 
engineering,  etc.  In  these  institutions  nearly  four  thou- 
sand students  are  now  pursuing  their  studies.  Besides 
these  are  asylums  for  the  blind,  the  deaf  and  dumb,  and 


326 


ABOUT  MEXICO. 


other  charities  which  are  supported  by  private  individ- 
uals. With  all  these  opportunities,  however,  it  is  still 
true  that  six-sevenths  of  the  people  of  Mexico  can 
neither  read  nor  write.  The  business  enterprise  of  the 
country  is  in  the  hands  of  a  very  few,  and  those  mostly 
foreigners.  The  higher  classes  are  not  inferior  in  intel- 
ligence and  culture  to  cultivated  people  in  the  most 
favored  lauds.  The  Mexican  is  fluent  in  conversation 
and  urbane  in  manner,  but  the  wide  gap  between  the 


A    MEXICAN    SENORA. 


aristocracy  and  the  lower  orders  reveals  Mexico's  great 
need  of  a  middle  class  prepared  by  education  for  those 
blessings  of  constitutional  liberty  which  the  masses  are 
yet  trampling  under  their  feet  for  very  ignorance. 

Most  of  the  two  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  resi- 
dents of  the  capital  are  Indians.  The  kneeling  crowd 
in  the  churches  on  some  saint's  day  is  largely  aborigi- 
nal in  its  make-up,  and  as  democratic  as  in  ancient  days. 


TO  MEXICO  BY  RAIL.  327 

The  dark-eyed  seiiora  of  Spanish  blood  wrapped  in  the 
ample  folds  of  her  silken  reboza  bows  on  the  stone 
floor  close  beside  an  Indian  from  the  country  on  the  way 
to  market  with  a  hen-coop  on  his  back,  and  the  cackling, 
crowing  inmates  of  the  coop  in  no  wise  disturb  the  prayers 
of  either  devotee.  Perhaps  half  the  crowd  remembered 
to  throw  a  kiss  to  their  old  deity,  the  sun,  as  they  entered 
the  shrine  where  the  one  true  God  is  professedly  wor- 
shiped. There  is  no  Sabbath  in  Mexico.  The  sanctity 
of  the  Lord's  day  has  been  given  to  seasons  devoted  to 
the  adoration  of  his  disciples,  and  there  are  so  many  more 
of  these  saints'  days  than  of  Sabbaths  in  the  year  that  if 
they  had  no  other  reason  to  obey  man  rather  than  God 
this  would  be  sufficient  for  this  pleasure-loving  people. 
Formerly  they  went  in  the  morning  to  mass,  and  then  in 
the  afternoon  to  a  bull-fight — an  institution  that  might 
seem  to  have  come  down  from  the  bloodthirsty  Aztecs 
did  we  not  know  that  it  was  brought  from  Spain.  Mex- 
ico has  done  better  than  the  mother-country,  for  these 
disgusting  exhibitions  have  been  suppressed  by  the  gov- 
ernment. 

Mexico  is  the  paradise  of  equestrians ;  even  the  beg- 
gars formerly  went  on  horseback. 

The  Paseo  de  la  Riforma  is  a  fine  avenue  three  miles 
long,  leading  out  to  the  famous  castle  of  Chapultepec, 
beside  the  Chalco  Canal.  A  ride  in  one  of  the  pleasure- 
boats  on  the  latter  is  a  favorite  pastime.  These  boats 
are  fitted  up  with  cushioned  seats  in  the  middle,  pro- 
tected by  an  awning,  for  passengers,  while  the  boatmen 
use  their  long  poles  ut  either  end.  On  land  the  way  is 
thronged  from  seven  to  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  and 
from  six  to  seven  in  the  evening  with  equestrians  and 
gay  carriages  filled  with  ladies.  The  magnificent  hous- 


328  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

ings  of  the  steeds,  rich  with  trappings  of  gold  and  silver 
and  silken  embroidery,  form  one  of  the  finest  sights  of 
the  metropolis,  to  be  surpassed  in  splendor  only  by  the 
dress  of  their  riders.  The  amount  of  flashing  buttons 
and  gold-lace  a  Mexican  gallant  can  wear  is  to  be  meas- 
ured only  by  the  size  of  his  person.  His  wide  sombrero, 
feathered  and  laced,  his  spurs  and  other  martial  accoutre- 
ments, make  him  a  fine  object  of  observation  in  the  row 
of  horsemen  who  stand  together  to  be  gazed  at  by  every 
passer-by. 

The  nineteenth  century  makes  itself  manifest  on  some 
of  the  roads  leading  out  of  the  city  in  the  shape  of 
"horse-cars" — which  are  crowded  most  of  the  time — 
drawn  by  mules.  There  are  two  claases  of  these  cars, 
with  the  names  on  the  outside.  The  conductors  blow 
a  horn  at  the  crossings  or  to  hold  up. 

The  present  castle  of  Chapultepec  was  built  in  1785 
by  the  viceroy  Galvez  on  the  site  of  one  of  the  old  sum- 
mer-houses of  the  luxurious  chiefs  of  Mexico,  the  foun- 
dations of  which  still  remain,  and  also  one  of  the  bathing- 
pools  cut  in  solid  rock.  It  is  approached  by  an  avenue 
of  gigantic  cypress  trees.  The  city  is  in  full  view  from 
the  windows,  with  its  domes  and  towers,  its  softly-tinted 
houses  interspersed  with  forest  trees.  The  great  valley 
with  its  embracing  mountains,  whose  tall  sentinel-peaks 
rise  far  to  the  east,  are  all  reflected  in  the  mirror-lakes 
below  from  the  very  base  to  the  summit.  Popocatapetl 
and  Iztaccihuatl  are  giant  gate-posts  in  the  granite  wall 
which  surrounds  this  great  plateau.  Seen  through  the 
wonderfully  pure  and  rarefied  atmosphere  of  this  high 
table-land,  these  summits  seem  closer  than  they  really 
are,  being  thirty  miles  apart.  Between  them  Cortez 
made  his  way,  and  centuries  later  General  Scott  followed. 


TO  MEXICO  BY  RAIL. 


329 


Popocatapetl,    five  thousand   feet   higher   than    Mout 
Blanc,  is  a  perfect  cone.     Now  and  then  a  smoke-wreath 


CHAPULTEPEC   CASTLE. 

tells  of  the  fires  which  rage  far  below  its  rocky  founda- 
tions, but  there  has  been  no  eruption  within  three  hun- 
dred years.  Such  was  the  dread  of  this  smoking  moun- 
tain that  no  Mexican  ever  scaled  it  until  the  Spaniards 
came.  Since  these  adventurous  spirits  seized  Mexico, 


330 


ABOUT  MEXICO. 


Popocatepetl  has  been  turned  into  a  vast  sulphur-quarry. 
A  jet  of  vapor  of  twenty  horse-power  rises  about  eight 
hundred  feet  below  the  edge  of  the  crater,  and  it  is  pro- 
posed to  use  this  natural  force  to  hoist  the  sulphur  to  the 
top  of  this  vast  cavity,  instead  of  employing  men  to 
climb  up  in  that  rarefied  atmosphere  with  heavy  loads. 


&S&:- 
i      • 

— — • — tPs?t> 


SUMMIT   OF    IZTACCIHl'ATL,    MEXICO. 

Over  against  Popocatapetl  is  Iztaccihuatl — the  "  Wo- 
man in  White."  Its  resemblance  to  a  human  figure  is 
perceived  more  readily  than  that  of  the  Man  in  the 
Moon.  One  needs  a  strong  imagination  in  both  cases. 
The  giantess  lies  in  her  snowy  robes,  with  her  feet 
toward  her  husband  and  her  cold  face  upturned,  her 
hair  being  simulated  by  one  of  the  dark  forests  which 


TO  MEXICO  BY  RAIL.  331 

mantle  the  lower  slopes  of  these  mountains.  Recent 
enterprise  has  found  a  way  of  making  money  out  of 
both,  these  old  people.  Since  Popocatapetl  produces 
sulphur,  his  wife  has  been  called  upon  for  ice,  of  which 
she  has  enough  and  to  spare.  The  city  of  Puebla  is  sup- 
plied in  this  way,  and  a  few  years  more  may  see  its  white 
mantle  dealt  out  by  piecemeal  to  cool  other  heated  com- 
munities farther  away. 

The  Virgin  Mary  is  the  tutelar  deity  of  all  Mexico ; 
more  than  two-thirds  of  the  people  worship  her  in  the 
form  of  an  Indian  maiden.  About  ten  years  after  the 
surrender  of  Guatemozin,  and  while  the  people  were 
still  maintaining,  though  under  great  difficulties,  their  old 
tribal  relations,  it  became  evident  that  the  religion  which 
they  had  been  forced  to  adopt  was  growing  more  and  more 
hateful  to  them,  and  that  unless  something  was  done  to 
win  their  hearts  even  the  compromise  with  heathenism 
which  passed  under  the  name  of  Christianity  would  be 
shaken  off'  altogether :  Christians  had  made  the  name  of 
Christ  so  odious  that  his  beloved  message  lost  all  its 
power. 

In  the  suburbs  of  the  city  was  a  place  whither  the 
Aztecs  once  resorted  to  pour  their  sorrows  into  the  ear 
of  their  ancient  idol  Tomantzin — a  sweet  word  in  their 
ears.  The  last  syllable  is  a  title  given  to  persons  of 
high  rank,  but  the  first  part  of  the  name  has  a  mean- 
ing which  is  dear  to  every  human  heart.  It  is  "  Our 
Mother."  Tomantzin  attracted  the  attention  of  the  dig- 
nitaries of  the  Church  as  they  studied  the  Indian  ques- 
tion of  that  day,  and  soon  she  was  formally  adopted  by 
the  conquerors,  and  with  some  changes  in  dress  and  the 
development  of  her  history  to  suit  the  times  she  took 
her  place  in  the  Church  as  the  queen  of  heaven. 


332  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

Toraantzin  was  introduced  in  her  new  character  to  her 
old  friends  with  an  ingenuity  admirable  if  not  commend- 
able. One  December  night  in  1531  a  converted  Indian 
— Juan  Diego  by  name — was  praying  alone  on  the  hill  of 
Guadaloupe,  about  two  miles  from  the  city  gate,  where 
the  people  had  always  worshiped  Tomantzin.  As  he 
knelt  under  the  starlit  sky  the  Virgin  Mary  appeared 
to  him  robed  in  white,  a  great  light  shining  about  her. 
Yet,  wonder  of  wonders !  she  was  no  longer  white,  but 
appeared  as  an  Indian  woman  and  spoke  of  his  people 
as  her  own  people  and  in  their  mother-tongue. 

"Go,"  she  said,  "to  the  bishop  of  Mexico  and  tell 
him  it  is  my  wish  that  a  church  should  be  built  for  me 
on  this  spot." 

When  Diego  recovered  from  his  surprise,  he  hastened 
to  the  bishop's  palace  with  his  strange  news.  It  was 
received  with  suitable  incredulity  and  passed  by.  But 
Diego  went  back  to  the  spot  hallowed  by  the  beautiful 
vision,  and,  to  his  great  joy,  the  Virgin  appeared  again, 
repeating  her  commands  to  the  bishop,  and  adding  that 
the  Church  would  never  prosper  in  Mexico  until  her 
message  was  obeyed.  To  give  weight  to  her  words,  a 
fountain  burst  forth  from  the  spot  where  she  stood. 
Again  Juan  Diego  went  to  the  bishop,  who  .still  doubt- 
ed. He  wanted  some  sign  to  prove  that  the  story  wa.s 
true.  When  the  Indian  again  visited  the  hill,  he  saw 
the  Virgin  near  the  spring,  but  this  time  she  bade  him 
take  to  the  faithless  bishop  a  quantity  of  full-blown  roses 
as  a  proof  of  her  creative  power.  The  barren  rock  now 
burst  forth  in  bloom,  though  it  was  the  Mexican  winter, 
when  roses  did  not  flourish  in  those  cold  uplands.  With 
the  miraculous  roses  in  his  blanket  the  Indian  hastened 
back  to  the  bishop,  when,  lo !  as  he  opened  his  treasure, 


TO  MEXICO  BY  RAIL.  333 

he  saw  imprinted  on  the  coarse  woolen  fabric  the  face 
that  had  thrice  appeared  to  him  on  the  hill.  This  was 
accepted  as  convincing  proof  that  the  Virgin  had  espoused 
the  cause  of  the  Indians.  Belief  in  Our  Lady  of  Guada- 
loupe  now  became  universal  among  her  countrymen,  al- 
though the  fraud  of  the  whole  story  is  frankly  acknowl- 
edged by  many  intelligent  and  loyal  Roman  Catholics  in 
Mexico. 

On  the  spot  was  built  a  church  which  became  the 
richest  in  this  land  of  rich  churches.  Its  great  wealth 
is  not  derived  from  the  mines,  but  from  the  earnings  of 
the  abject  poor,  in  whose  behalf  the  Indian  Virgin  came. 
Half  the  women  in  Mexico,  and  thousands  of  the  men, 
are  named  after  this  lady,  and  scarcely  a  house  in  the 
land  lacks  her  blanket-image  enshrined  in  the  most  hon- 
ored place.  Hundreds  of  chapels  have  been  erected  in 
her  honor  in  every  city  and  town  in  Mexico. 

The  anniversary  of  the  Virgin's  appearance  is  still 
celebrated  by  a  great  pilgrimage  to  her  shrine.  Along 
the  road  from  the  capital  to  this  spot  were  constructed 
fourteen  beautiful  shrines,  each  commemorating  some 
fact  in  the  history  of  Christ.  Thousands  of  devotees 
can  be  seen  crawling  on  their  bare  knees  on  the  hard 
pavement,  saying  their  prayers  as  they  go  painfully 
along.  The  highest  dignitaries  in  the  land  were  wont 
to  join  in  this  celebration.  As  many  as  one  hundred 
thousand  people  came  on  foot  from  the  surrounding 
countiy  to  join  in  the  ceremonies  and  to  bring  their 
offerings.  Those  who  were  too  poor  to  pay  for  lodgings 
would  sleep  on  the  sacred  soil,  and  thousands  thus  camped 
out  rolled  in  their  blankets,  acres  of  sleeping  humanity. 
This  pilgrimage  is  falling  into  disuse.  The  great  neglect 
the  occasion,  and  the  poor  have  less  time  to  spend  thus 


334  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

than  in  ante-railroad  times.  In  fact,  the  Mexican  Rail- 
way has  usurped  the  road  over  which  bare-kneed  pilgrims 
traveled,  and  the  shrines  are  falling  into  decay  since,  with 
Maximilian  and  Carlotta,  clerical  rule  passed  away. 

There  has  always  been  a  great  rivalry  between  the 
Virgin  of  Guadaloupe  and  the  Virgin  brought  over  from 
Spain,  Nostra  Sefiora  de  los  Remedies.  The  latter  is  an 
ugly  wooden  doll  about  a  foot  long.  It  is  said  to  have 
once  belonged  to  Cortez,  and  to  have  been  set  up  by  him 
in  the  old  heathen  temple  of  Mexico.  Some  of  the  Span- 
iards rescued  the  image  at  the  time  of  their  conflict  with 
the  Aztecs,  and  it  was  taken  away  with  other  valuables 
and  lost  in  the  wreck  of  the  noche  triste.  When,  some 
time  afterward,  it  was  found  in  the  heart  of  a  huge  mag- 
uey-plant on  the  top  of  a  bare  hill,  it  was  claimed  that 
the  Virgin  had  saved  her  image  by  a  miracle,  and  hence- 
forth she  was  shrined  in  a  golden  maguey-flower  and 
worshiped  as  divine.  Many  a  time  the  wooden  Virgin, 
seated  in  a  gilded  coach  and  drawn  by  a  nobleman  of  the 
highest  rank,  has  been  carried  through  the  streets  of  the 
capital,  while  the  viceroy  humbly  walked  behind. 

The  political  opinions  of  these  rival  Virgins  are  sup- 
posed to  be  very  marked.  The  republicans  were  shrewd 
enough  to  win  the  Lady  of  Guadaloupe  to  their  side  at 
the  beginning  of  the  contest,  while  the  Lady  de  los  Re- 
medies was  counted  upon  as  a  true  Spaniard  in  her  sym- 
pathies. Each  of  them  had  a  general's  dress  and  marched 
with  her  party  when  they  paraded  the  streets. 

At  one  time,  when  the  conservatives  were  despairing 
of  their  cause,  they  began  to  threaten  the  Lady  de  los 
Remedies  for  her  indifference  to  their  entreaties.  They 
told  her  that  if  she  would  hear  their  prayers  she  might 
keep  her  situation  in  the  cathedral  and  wear  her  jeweled 


TO  MEXICO  BY  RAIL.  335 

petticoats  in  peace;  if  she  still  continued  deaf  to  their 
prayers,  they  would  put  her  in  plain  clothes  and  ship 
her  to  Spain.  At  last  ruin  stared  them  in  the  face. 
The  wooden  doll  was  taken  down,  and  bearded  men, 
like  children  in  a  pet  with  their  toy,  bought  a  passport 
for  her  to  her  native  laud.  She  was  actually  on  her  way 
there  in  disgrace  when  the  authorities  came  to  their  senses 
and  ordered  the  disgraced  image  to  be  returned  to  the 
church. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

THE  LAND:  ITS  PRODUCTS  AND  CITIES. 

A  FTER  more  than  half  its  territory  had  been  taken 
-«•  by  its  grasping  neighbor  the  United  States,  .Mexico 
still  was  about  four  times  the  size  of  France,  with  a 
coast-line  of  fifty-eight  hundred  miles  and  a  common 
boundary  with  the  United  States  of  eighteen  hundred 
miles. 

Exclude  the  Rio  Grande,  which  divides  the  two  nations 
for  nearly  half  this  distance,  and  Mexico  may  be  called  a 
riverless  country.  The  magnificent  harbors  which  open 
along  its  western  coast  are  just  beginning  to  be  known, 
though  several  of  them  are  among  the  finest  in  the  world. 
Guaymas,  a  village  at  the  mouth  of  a  small  river  empty- 
ing into  the  Gulf  of  California,  is  now  the  terminus  of 
a  railroad  which  gives  direct  communication  with  St. 
Louis,  Philadelphia,  New  York  and  all  our  great  cities. 
An  active  trade  is  springing  up  which  will  soon  bring 
the  place  into  competition  with  some  of  its  better-known 
neighbors.  From  San  Bias,  farther  south,  on  the  Pacific 
coast,  a  road  runs  eastward  to  Tampico,  on  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  Acapulco,  another  railroad  terminus,  has  a 
noble  land-locked  harbor,  and  is  likely  to  be  one  of 
the  queen-cities  of  the  South-west.  It  is  probable  that 
Mexico,  so  long  closed  to  a  free  commerce,  will  first  be 
opened  on  the  north,  on  its  landward  side,  and  that  its 

33B 


THE  LAND:  ITS  PRODUCTS  AND   CITIES.     337 

lack  of  water-communication  will  be  more  than  made 
up  by  several  great  railroad  systems  converging  toward 


ON    THE   CANAL,    NEAK   MEXICO   CITY. 

the  ancient  capital  and   linking  the   sleepy   old   cities 
along  their  routes  with  the  wide-awake  world  outside. 


22 


338 


ABOUT  MEXICO. 


Habits  and  customs  which  are  wrought  into  the  veiy 
life  of  the  people  are  fast  giving  way  before  American 
ideas.  In  spite  of  the  national  bugbear  of  annexation, 
Mexico  is  to-day  in  a  receptive  mood.  She  seems  to 

stand   like   one   of  her 

I 

own  Indians  who  come 
out  of  their  cabins  to 
see  the  train  go  by. 
Gaunt  and  speechless, 
with  faces  as  unmoved 


as  are  '  those  of  their  old 
statues,  they  wave  a  per- 
missive hand  to  the  bold 
intruder  as  they  stand  gaz- 
ing at  this  wonder  of  our  rushing  age.  If  old  Popocat- 
apetl,  the  home  of  the  gods,  is  safely  tunneled  for  a  new 
track,  and  the  holy  hill  of  Cholula  is  cut  away  to  make 
room  for  the  inevitable  locomotive,  innovations  like 
American  looms  and  ploughs  and  reapers  will  surely 
be  tolerated  in  old  Mexico,  and  the  modern  express- 
wagon  will  be  permitted  to  take  the  place  of  the  prim- 
itive ox-cart. 


THE  LAND:  ITS  PRODUCTS  AND  CITIES.      339 

There  are  immense  districts,  however,  where  such  for- 
eign wares  are  still  unknown.  One  has  only  to  find  one 
of  these  out-of-the-way  places  to  see  husbandry  carried 
on  as  it  was  when  Joseph  was  Pharaoh's  overseer  in 
Egypt.  If  by  chance  an  American  plough  makes  its 
way  there,  it  is  apt  to  be  broken  up  for  its  iron,  since 
that  can  be  turned  into  cash,  while  the  farmer  plods  con- 
tentedly on  in  the  rut  his  ancestors  made  five  hundred 
years  ago.  But  the  lower  classes  in  town  and  in  city 
have  been  aroused  to  new  life.  Those  who  used  to  beg 
or  to  steal  because  they  had  nothing  else  to  do  can  now 
earn  an  honest  living  with  pickaxe  and  spade  along  the 
route  of  some  of  the  new  railroads.  There  has  been  a 
very  perceptible  change  not  only  in  arrests  for  crime,  but 
in  that  turbulent  spirit  which  found  vent  in  endless  rev- 
olutions. It  was  estimated  that  in  1883  more  than 
fifty  thousand  Mexicans  were  at  work  digging,  felling 
trees,  building  bridges  and  cutting  roads  through  forests 
and  over  mountains.  Many  of  these  had  never  before 
done  a  full  day's  work.  At  least  six  railroads  are  now 
heading  toward  as  many  cities  on  the  Pacific  shore  of 
Mexico,  while  the  country  is  crossed  by  half  that  num- 
ber of  transcontinental  roads. 

There  are  but  two  seasons  in  Mexico — the  wet  season 
and  the  dry  season.  The  mean  temperature  in  January 
is  52.5°  Fahrenheit;  in  July,  65.3°.  From  October  to 
May  there  is  but  little  rain.  As  the  heavy  floods  of 
autumn  are  left  behind  the  streams  then  swollen  by 
freshets  dry  up,  the  meadows  look  parched,  the  shrubs 
wither  and  on  the  higli  plateau  clouds  of  dust  fill  the 
air.  In  some  parts  of  the  country  water  becomes 
scarce,  even  for  culinary  purposes,  and  the  precious  fluid 
may  be  seen  traveling  in  barrels  behind  the  donkey  and 


340 


ABOUT  MEXICO. 


its  master  from  some  stream  to  the  home.  In  May  there 
are  frequent  showers,  and  by  September  tiny  rivulets 
become  raging  torrents  leaping  from  shelf  to  shelf  of 
their  rocky  beds  through  some  great  crevice  in  the 
mountains. 

On  the  Pacific  coast  the  steep  sides  of  the  cordilleras 
are  cleft  by  long  valleys  running  east  and  west  and  open- 


WATER-PEDDLER,    MEXICO. 

ing  out  directly  on  the  sea.  The  surf  often  thunders  up  to 
the  very  mouth  of  the  deep  mountaiu-glen  till  the  green 
of  its  perpetual  spring  is  moistened  by  the  spray. 

A  large  part  of  Mexico  has  been  denuded  of  its  for- 
ests. The  Spaniards  neglected  the  system  of  irrigation 
used  by  the  more  provident  natives,  and  many  parts  of 
the  country  once  profitably  cultivated  are  now  lying 


THE  LAND:  ITS  PRODUCTS  AND  CITIES.     341 

waste.  The  great  naked  mountains  and  the  leafless 
character  of  much  of  the  vegetation  give  to  some  por- 
tions of  Mexico  a  sterile  appearance  which  always  makes 
an  impression  on  strangers.  Some  varieties  of  prickly 
pear  grow  to  the  size  of  quite  large  trees.  The  fluted 
columns  of  the  organ-cactus  tower  up  to  the  height  of 
sixty  feet  in  favorable  soil.  The  prickly-pear  cactus  is 


GATHERING   THE   JTJICE    OF   THE   MAGUEY   FOK   PULQUE. 

used  for  hedges,  and,  as  it  bristles  with  thorns  and  spines, 
intruders  are  kept  at  a  respectful  distance.  The  Indians, 
who  are  very  fond  of  the  fruit  of  this  cactus,  go  out  in 
August,  when  it  is  ripe,  and  hook  it  down  with  forked 
sticks.  Mexico  seems  to  be  the  home  of  the  cacti.  Their 
grotesque  forms  are  seen  everywhere,  brightened  in  their 
season  with  beautiful  blossoms — pink,  pale-yellow,  warm 
tints  of  red  or  deep  gold. 


342  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

One  of  the  most  common  plants  is  the  maguey  (Agave 
Americana).  This  grows  wild  everywhere  and  is  useful 
to  its  last  particle.  1 1  furnishes  thread,  needles,  cord,  ropes, 
thatch  and  paper,  and  also  bears  a  palatable  fruit  when  its 
blossoms  are  allowed  to  come  to  perfection.  Its  chief  com- 
mercial value  is  in  its  sap,  out  of  which  pulque,  the  nation- 
al beverage,  is  made.  The  agave  matures  very  slowly, 
needing  about  ten  years  of  growth  to  become  productive. 
The  Indians  who  have  watched  it  know  to  a  day  when 
the  blossom  will  be  ready  for  the  knife.  The  whole 
heart  of  the  plant  is  then  cut  out,  leaving  nothing  but 
the  stiff  outside  circle  of  leaves.  Into  the  deep  cavity 
thus  left  oozes  the  sap,  which  is  carefully  dipped  out  two 
or  three  times  each  day.  The  basin  of  the  wounded  plant 
will  hold  a  pailful  of  the  sweet  honey- water.  When  this 
ferments,  as  it  does  in  twenty-four  hours,  it  becomes 
pulque  (pronounced  pool-bay).  The  sap  from  one  plant 
will  often  run  in  this  way  for  three  months.  The  plant 
then  dies,  and  others  spring  up  from  its  roots,  to  run 
the  same  course. 

Pulque  is  produced  in  large  quantities  about  Puebla 
and  the  capital.  When  ready  for  use,  this  beverage  has 
a  taste  which  is  a  cross  between  sour  milk  and  slightly- 
tainted  beef;  it  is  seldom  palatable  on  first  acquaintance, 
but  a  relish  for  it  is  soon  acquired,  and  drunkenness  from 
its  excessive  use  is  common.  The  Indians  are  its  natural 
victims.  Humboldt  says  that  in  his  day  "  the  police  in 
Mexico  sent  around  tumbrels  to  collect  the  drunkards  to 
be  found  stretched  out  in  the  streets.  These  Indians  are 
carried  to  the  principal  guard-house.  In  the  morning  an 
iron  ring  is  put  on  their  ankles,  and  they  are  made  to 
sweep  the  streets  for  three  days." 

Mexico  has  well  been  called  an  "agricultural  cosmos ;" 


THE  LAND:  ITS  PRODUCTS  AND  CITIES.     343 

there  is  not  a  plant  of  any  zone  or  of  any  soil  which  can- 
not flourish  within  its  borders.  All  European  cereals  are 
at  home  on  the  table-lands,  with  the  fruits  and  the  forest- 
trees  of  other  temperate  regions.  In  the  forests  below 
one  hundred  and  fourteen  varieties  of  timber  suitable 
for  cabinet-work  have  been  counted,  with  seventeen  kinds 
of  oil-bearing  plants  and  several  valuable  species  of  gum 


SHOP  FOR  THE  SALE  OP  PULQUE. 

trees,  of  which  the  india-rubber  variety  is  a  specimen. 
Sugar  is  a  staple  crop,  and  coffee,  introduced  during  this 
century,  is  very  productive.  The  government  has  re- 
cently ordered  two  millions  of  fast-growing  trees  to  be 
planted  within  four  years.  Among  these  is  the  eucalyp- 
tus, which  flourishes  well  in  the  lake-regions  of  Mex- 
ico. 

The  people  are  mostly  vegetarians ;  maize  and  beans, 


344  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

with  pepper,  form  their  main  diet.  The  banana  lias 
been  a  wonderful  boon  to  the  poor  of  this  country ; 
four  thousand  pounds  of  bananas  may  be  gathered 
from  ground  which  yields  thirty  pounds  of  wheat.  Within 
a  year  after  the  suckers  are  set  out  the  plant  is  in  full 
bearing,  which  means  three  crops  in  a  year. 

Nothing  in  Mexico  has  so  fastened  upon  the  world's 
attention  as  have  its  wonderful  mines;  between  A.  D. 
1519  and  A.  D.  1826  precious  metals  to  the  value  of 
$2,588,732,000  had  been  taken  from  them.  Silver 
and  gold  were  exported  by  the  ton.  At  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century  the  famous  old  vita  mftdre,  or  mother- 
vein,  of  Guanajuato  had  yielded  one-fifth  of  all  the  sil- 
ver then  in  circulation  in  the  world.  Most  of  this  treas- 
ure found  its  way  to  Spain,  but  vast  quantities  of  it  were 
hoarded  up  in  the  churches  built  everywhere  in  Mexico. 
Candlesticks  of  gold  too  heavy  for  one  man  to  lift,  pyxes, 
crosses,  statues,  of  precious  metals  encrusted  with  gems 
and  most  elaborately  wrought,  adorn  the  shrines,  whose 
wealth  of  ornamentation  exceeds  anything  known  eLse- 
where.  When  the  mines  of  St.  Eulalia,  near  Chihuahua, 
were  in  full  operation  years  ago,  there  was  a  tax  of 
twelve  and  a  half  cents  on  every  eight  ounces  of  silver 
drawn  from  the  mines,  and  in  fifty  years  the  proceeds 
had  reared  one  of  the  grandest  churches  in  Mexico. 

Many  of  the  richest  mines  in  the  country — those  of 
St.  Eulalia  among  the  number — have  been  closed  for 
generations.  In  the  eager  search  for  "bonan/as"  the 
owners  passed  by  a  great  deal  of  valuable  ore  rather  than 
work  for  it.  The  government  has  recently  issued  a  |MT- 
mit  to  an  enterprising  Yankee  to  reopen  this  old  mine. 
He  has  erected  a  mill  in  Chihuahua  fitted  up  with  mod- 


THE  LAND:  ITS  PRODUCTS  AND   CITIES.      345 

ern  machinery,  and  after  tunneling  the  mountain  in  two 
directions  has  turned  out  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five 
thousands  of  dollars  in  silver  bullion  in  a  month,  with 
a  prospect  of  doing  better  when  the  capacity  of  his  works 
is  increased.  Other  metals  seem  to  be  waiting  for  ener- 
getic miners.  Quantities  of  tin  are  found  in  Michoacan 
and  Jalisco,  and  a  ton  of  this  metal  was  recently  brought 
to  the  United  States  from  Durango.  In  the  same  neigh- 
borhood is  the  famous  mountain  of  magnetic-iron  ore — 
a  treasure  of  which  the  Aztecs  never  knew  the  use,  and 
which  the  Spaniards  were  too  much  occupied  with  gold- 
hunting  to  consider. 

Old  Mexican  mines  have  entered  on  a  fresh  lease  of 
productiveness  of  late  years,  and  new  ones  will  soon  be 
opened.  Already  the  miner's  toil  is  lightened  by  modern 
helps,  and  men  are  not  used  as  beasts  of  burdens.  Time 
was  when  all  these  tons  of  ore  were  carried  up  in  baskets 
slung  on  men's  backs  and  supported  by  a  band  across  the 
forehead.  The  amount  of  labor  required  may  be  imag- 
ined when  it  is  said  that  one  of  these  old  shafts  pierced 
the  earth's  crust  to  a  depth  of  sixteen  hundred  feet,  and 
that  it  annually  yielded  five  hundred  tons  of  silver  and 
one  and  a  half  tons  of  gold. 

Except  when  drunk,  the  Mexican  Indians  are  taciturn 
and  patient  under  their  burdens,  though  taught  by  ages 
of  oppression  to  be  distrustful.  They  seem  to  be  con- 
tented with  their  lot,  though  it  must  be  said  that  as  a 
people  they  have  in  them  great  possibilities  of  obstinacy. 
They  are  slow  workers,  but  faithful  and  persevering. 
They  look  like  a  conquered  people.  Their  faces  are  as 
sad,  their  hearts  as  dark  and  their  minds  as  ignorant  as 
when  the  sun  went  down  on  their  tribes  three  hundred 
years  ago.  Their  humility  is  often  most  touching.  The 


346  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

whites  have  given  them  the  title  of  gentes  sin  razon — 
"  men  without  reason  " — and  they  accept  the  reproachful 
term  as  readily  as  it  is  given. 

The  Indians  never  deserve  so  well  to  be  called  "  men 
without  reason"  as  when  they  give  themselves  up  to  the 
celebration  of  some  feast-day  of  the  Church.  The  ex- 
travagance of  a  poor  man  on  such  occasions,  especially 
when  he" frequents  the  pulqueria,  or  dram-shop,  is  mar- 
velous. Money  is  borrowed  in  advance,  to  be  returned  in 
labor;  debt  thus  becomes  the  bane  of  the  Mexican  peas- 
antry. The  debtors  (mozos]  make  up  a  large  part  of  the 
population,  and  a  more  hopeless  slavery  it  is  not  possible 
to  imagine.  Another  great  source  of  this  and  other 
evils  is  the  extravagant  marriage-fee  demanded  by  the 
priests.  This  is  never  less  than  fourteen  dollars ;  and  if 
this  ceremony  is  not  altogether  dispensed  with — as  it  is  in 
a  majority  of  cases — a  young  man  begins  his  career  as  a 
mozo  by  borrowing  money  to  defray  the  expenses  of  his 
wedding. 

In  love  of  wife  and  children  Mexicans  of  every  class 
are  not  excelled  anywhere.  If  Diego  or  Juan  is  at  work 
on  one  of  the  new  roads,  thither  he  transports  his  wife 
and  his  babies.  He  has  a  shelter  for  them  somewhere 
among  the  cactus  or  mesquite  and  stunted  palms,  or  he 
burrows  in  a  hillside  or  has  a  little  thatch  amid  the 
brush,  where,  though  not  very  comfortable  according  to 
our  ideas,  he  has  a  home.  Here  the  little  brown  children 
roll  in  the  sun  with  the  pigs,  who  have  accompanied  the 
family  in  their  migration.  The  pony,  if  they  have  one, 
is  tethered  close  by,  and  the  inevitable  burro,  or  donkey, 
goes  hobbling  about,  as  long-suffering  as  the  Indian  and 
with  something  like  his  history. 

The  ordinary  homes  of  the  common  people  are  gen- 


THE  LAND:  ITS  PRODUCTS  AND  CITIES.     347 


erally  built  of  adobe,  or,  if  near  a  forest,  of  pine-slabs 
leaning  against  a  framework  of  logs  or  supported  by  a 
tree.  The  roof  is  a  thatch  of  cornstalks  or  branches 

of  trees  or  the  stiff, 
sword-like  leaves 
of  the  agave.  Very 


NATIVE  INDIAN  ABODE. 


few  of  these  hovels  have  doors,  and  none  of  them  have 
windows.  A  heap  of  stones  in  the  corner  or  a  great  flat 
slab  in  the  centre  serves  for  a  fireplace  on  the  earthen 
floor,  and  the  smoke  easily  finds  its  way  out  through  the 
cracks.  Corn  is  ground  between  two  stones,  after  the 
simple  ancestral  fashion.  Tortillas  —  cakes  made  of 
crushed  corn  and  water,  baked  hard  —  aud  rich  brown 
beans,  called  frijols,  hot  with  pepper,  form  the  staple 
food.  A  few  unglazed  pots  and  dishes,  a  rude  pitcher  or 
two  for  water,  gourds  for  cups,  a  tortilla-trough  and 
kueadiug-stone,  handed  down  perhaps  for  generations, 
with  mats  for  seats  and  bedding,  form  all  the  furniture 
of  the  hovels  in  which  most  of  the  people  live.  The 
making  and  the  eating  of  tortillas,  however,  are  not  con- 
fined to  the  poor.  These  are  points  on  which  all  Mex- 
icans are  united.  Twenty-five  years  ago  chairs  aud  tables 


348 


ABOUT  MEXICO. 


were  so  little  used  in  Mexico  by  the  poorer  people  as  to 
be  more  ornamental  than  useful ;  they  preferred  to  sit 
on  their  heels  or  to  lounge  on  the  floor.  Very  few  had 
knives  or  forks,  and  a  spoon  was  always  made  of  a  tor- 
tilla folded  together  and  dipped  in  the  family-dish.  The 
food  and  the  clothing  in  such  a  home  are  generally  horue- 


MAKJXG   TORTILLAS,    MEXICO. 

made.  The  women  are  industrious,  and  manage  to  weave 
with  their  old  Aztec  looms  such  cloth  as  their  ancestors 
gave  to  Cortez  by  the  bale.  The  apparatus  looks  like  a  few 
sticks  tied  together,  and  when  not  in  use  hangs  on  the  wall. 


THE  LAND:  ITS  PRODUCTS  AND  CITIES.     349 

"While  some  of  the  Indians  of  Mexico  have  pushed 
their  way  up  to  positions  of  influence,  and  sometimes  of 
wealth,  they  are  generally  very  poor^  herding  together  in 
the  cities  in  a  quarter  of  their  own,  a  people  within  a 
people.  They  number  about  five  millions — more  than 
half  the  entire  population — while  Indian  blood  predom- 
inates in  the  mestizo,  or  mixed,  race  of  the  country,  the 
Creoles,  or  Europeans  and  their  descendants,  forming  not 


MEXICAN    WATER-WORKS. 


more  than  one-tenth  of  the  inhabitants  of  Mexico.  The 
Toluca  Valley,  about  forty  miles  west  of  the  capital,  is 
owned  by  Indian  pueblos,  or  corporations.  Near  Cuer- 
navaca,  where  Cortez  fought  a  fierce  battle  with  the  na- 


350  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

lives,  is  a  village  which  has  successfully  resisted  Spanish 
influences  and  maintained  its  old  institutions  to  tin's  day. 
Nor  is  this  a  solitary  instance.  The  Indians  are  not  dying 
out  nor  losing  their  tribal  identity ;  they  are  a  hardy  race, 
and  still  thrive  under  treatment  which  blotted  out  the 
islanders  among  whom  the  Spaniards  first  settled.  They 
often  live  to  be  a  hundred  years  old ;  the  women  are  es- 
pecially long-lived.  Few  of  either  sex  are  deformed. 

The  whole  race  of  village  Indians,  Aztecs  and  others, 
are  an  industrious  people.  Men  and  women  share  in  the 
burdens  of  caring  for  the  family;  a  woman  may  work  in 
the  fields,  but  the  heavier  part  of  out-door  labor  comes 
on  the  men.  They  all  seem  to  be  natural  burden-bearers. 
Those  of  them  who  are  too  poor  to  own  one  of  their  lit- 
tle unshod  ponies,  or  even  a  "  burro,"  will  all  day  carry 
on  their  own  backs  a  load  of  from  seventy-five  to  a  hun- 
dred pounds.  They  take  short  steps  and  go  on  their  long 
journeys  up  and  down  hill  in  a  jog-trot,  returning  satis- 
fied if  they  have  earned  a  dollar  or  two  at  most.  Their 
peculiar  tenacity  of  purpose  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
they  are  apt  to  go  to  the  very  place  they  set  out  for, 
even  though  they  could  make  as  much  money  by  selling  be- 
fore they  reached  there.  A  missionary  tells  of  a  poor  fel- 
low who  brought  a  hundred  pounds  of  charcoal  to  market. 
He  had  spent  a  week  altogether  cutting  and  burning 
it,  carried  it  twenty-five  miles  on  his  back  and  sold  it 
for  seventy-five  cents.  Some  of  these  laborers  earn  from 
twelve  and  a  half  to  thirty  cents  a  day ;  others,  loaded 
with  debt,  work  for  a  bare  subsistence  and  scarcely  see 
money  from  one  year's  end  to  another. 

Mexico  has  never  been  a  densely-populated  country. 
On  an  all-day  journey  by  rail  through  the  State  of 
Chihuahua  the  vast,  grassy  plain  over  which  the  road 


THE  LAND:  ITS  PRODUCTS  AND   CITIES.     351 

passes,  bounded  on  either  side  by  fantastic  mountain- 
peaks,  has  scarcely  a  sign  of  human  habitation  except 
the  station-buildings  along  the  track.  Immense  herds 
of  cattle  and  numerous  flocks  of  sheep  are  seen  quietly 
feeding  around  some  lake,  as  though  they  had  been  tak- 
ing care  of  themselves  for  generations.  This  is  not  the 
case,  however,  for  somewhere,  hidden  in  a  clump  of  trees 
or  on  a  sightly  hill,  the  comfortable  mansion  of  some  lord- 
ly proprietor  (haciendado)  arises  surrounded  by  fields  and 
orchards  and  a  village  of  his  peon  herdsmen.  Per- 
haps all  the  land  which  has  been  in  sight  for  a  whole 
day  has  been  the  property  of  one  family  for  a  century 
or  more.  Slavery  was  abolished  when  Mexican  inde- 
pendence was  secured,  but  the  evil  effects  of  the  hacienda 
system — as  this  one-man  power  is  called — remained. 

Up  to  this  time  the  towns  and  the  hamlets  of  Mexico 
look  very  much  as  they  have  looked  for  the  past  three 
hundred  years — bits  of  old  Spain  dropped  into  the  New- 
World  soil  amid  the  mouldering  ruins  of  its  ancient 
civilization.  Forty  miles  north  of  the  capital  the  Mex- 
ican Central  Railroad  passes  Tula,  one  of  the  Toltec 
cities  which  was  ruined  before  Cortez  came.  Here, 
among  the  fields  near  the  famous  pyramids  of  the  sun 
and  moon,  thousands  of  little  images  are  found  by 
following  the  ploughman  as  he  turns  over  the  sod; 
they  are  supposed  to  be  votive  offerings  once  brought  to 
this  old  Toltec  shrine.  No  two  faces  are  alike,  but  the 
sad  expression  Avorn  now  by  the  Indians  is  characteristic 
of  these  clay  heads.  Arrows,  pottery  and  other  remains 
show  that  this  plain  was  in  bygone  ages  the  home  of  a 
large  population. 

Most  of  the  interesting  cities  of  Mexico  are,  or  soon 
will  be,  reached  by  railroads.  Monterey,  one  of  the 


852  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

oldest  cities  on  this  continent,  is  on  the  Mexican  Nation- 
al Railroad,  about  six  hundred  miles  north-east  from  the 
capital.  It  stands  at  the  head  of  a  beautiful  valley,  on 
the  Rio  Catarina,  one  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Rio  Grande. 
It  is  entirely  shut  in  by  mountains  whose  strange  shapes 
give  to  the  scenery  a  peculiar  character  which  cannot  l>e 
lost  when  the  tide  of  travel  shall  sweep  away  many  other 
landmarks.  These  frowning  summits  are  so  high  that 
the  city  nestling  near  at  their  base  is  still  more  than  six- 
teen hundred  feet  above  the  sea.  Streams  of  pure  cold 
water  flow  through  the  streets  from  springs  not  far  away. 
The  city,  embowered  with  orchards  and  gardens,  has  the 
same  Moorish  architecture  seen  elsewhere,  while  the  fort- 
ress-like houses  and  the  flat  roofs  mark  it  as  one  of  the 
cities  of  olden  times.  A  new  cathedral,  begun  twenty 
years  ago,  is  yet  to  be  finished.  The  old  one  stands  on 
the  plaza,  a  pleasant  spot  Ixjautified  by  the  hapless  Max- 
imilian with  winding  walks,  fountains  and  parterres  of 
bright  flowers. 

Chihuahua  is  a  city  about  twelve  hundred  miles  north- 
west from  the  capital  and  two  hundred  miles  from  El 
Paso.  The  Mexican  Central  Railroad  was  opened 
through  this  place  in  March,  1884,  making  communica- 
tion complete  between  this  point  and  the  City  of  Mexico. 

Chihuahua  had  been  subject  to  many  inroads  from  the 
wild  Indians  of  the  Xorth,  and  for  years  no  enterprise 
was  safe ;  now,  what  with  the  new  railroads,  telegraphs, 
horse-cars,  omnibuses,  and  the  whir  of  American  ma- 
chinery in  mills  and  factories,  old  times  and  new  are  in 
strange  juxtaposition.  The  city  stands  in  a  beautiful 
valley  opening  toward  the  north  between  the  spurs  of 
the  Sierra  Madre.  It  is  in  the  same  latitude  as  is  South- 
ern Florida,  but,  being  more  than  five  thousand  feet 


354  "ABOUT  MEXICO. 

above  the  sea,  the  climate  is  almost  perfect  all  the  year 
round  and  well  suited  to  invalids.  It  is  regularly  built, 
with  the  principal  streets  wide,  straight  and  swept  clean 
by  convict  labor.  The  plaza  has  its  beautiful  flowers 
and  shrubbery  and  is  surrounded  by  a  broad  promenade. 
In  the  centre  is  a  great  fountain  whose  large,  deep  basin 
overflows  with  pure  water  brought  from  an  artificial 
reservoir  in  the  mountains,  six  miles  away.  Morning 
and  evening,  with  tall  earthen  jars  poised  on  their  heads, 
the  swarthy  Mexican  women  come  to  get  their  supply 
of  water  in  this  public  square.  The  massive  stone  arches 
of  the  aqueduct  which  brings  the  stream  are  quite  a  feat- 
ure in  the  suburban  landscape  of  Chihuahua.  Continu- 
ous house-fronts  are  quite  as  common  here  as  in  other 
cities.  It  has  its  poor  quarter,  where  this  class  huddle 
together  in  miserable  hovels,  but  most  of  the  city  has  a 
bright  and  cheerful  appearance.  Houses  are  built  of 
light-gray  stone,  with  the  owner's  monogram  carved 
over  the  doorway,  while  gilded  bars  defending  the 
windows  cut  in  the  heavy  walls  tell  of  days  when 
every  dwelling  was  a  fortress. 

The  police-force  of  the  Mexican  cities  is  generally 
very  efficient.  In  Chihuahua  watchmen  walk  the  city 
all  day  with  revolvers  ready  for  action ;  at  night  they  don 
a  great  serape,  shoulder  a  gun  and  patrol  the  streets  with 
huge  square  lanterns,  calling  out  to  each  other  with  os- 
tentatious regularity ;  and  woe  betide  the  offender  who  is 
caught  disturbing  the  public  peace  and  quiet  in  a  less 
orderly  manner  than  they  do  themselves!  The  next 
day  finds  him  hard  at  work  in  the  chain-gang,  from 
which  he  never  escapes  until  he  has  suffered  the  ut- 
most rigor  of  the  law. 

Six  hundred  miles  farther  south,  on   the  same  rail- 


THE  LAND:  ITS  PRODUCTS  AND   CITIES.      355 

road,  is  the  city  of  Zacatecas,  capital  of  the  State  of  the 
game  name.  It  is  built  in  a  cleft  in  the  naked  moun- 
tains so  characteristic  of  this  region  and  directly  over  a 
rich  vein  of  silver.  It  is  so  situated  that  it  does  not 
come  into  view  until  one  is  within  a  mile  and  a  half  of 
it,  and  then  only  in  sections  unless  one  has  climbed  the 
hills  to  look  down  upon  it.  A  number  of  churches  and 
public  buildings  make  a  fine  appearance. 

Guanajuato  has  another  of  the  curiously  picturesque 
situations  which  Nature  has  provided  for  the  cities  of 
Mexico.  It  was  founded  by  the  Spaniards  in  1545  for 
mining  purposes.  It  is  approached  by  a  deep  canon.  In 
what  seems  to  be  a  collection  of  villages  clinging  to  the 
steep  mountain-sides  are  the  houses  of  at  least  sixty  thou- 
sand people.  Along  the  winding  streets  or  perched  here 
and  there  on  some  "coign  of  vantage"  are  well-built 
houses  of  hewn  stone.  Deep  as  is  the  valley  where 
these  are  situated,  the  whole  place  stands  six  thousand 
feet  above  the  sea. 

Guanajuato  is  the  place  where  Hidalgo  raised  the 
standard  of  revolt  in  1809  after  gaming  over  the  gar- 
rison, and  not  far  away  is  the  small  village  of  Dolores, 
where  he  had  his  home. 

Queretaro,  also  on  the  Mexican  Central  Railroad,  is 
another  city  among  the  clouds,  a  thousand  feet  higher 
than  Guanajuato.  The  whole  State  of  which  this  city 
is  the  capital  is  remarkable  for  its  fine  scenery  and  its 
salubrious  climate.  Queretaro  is  furnished  with  water 
brought  thither  from  springs  six  miles  away.  An  aque- 
duct two  miles  long  crosses  the  meadows  on  arches  ninety 
feet  high  and  joins  a  tunnel  in  the  neighboring  hills. 
This  noble  structure  was  built  at  his  own  expense  by 
one  of  the  early  viceroys.  In  this  beautiful  city  Max- 


356  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

imilian  took  refuge  with  a  few  followers,  and  on  a  hill 
in  its  suburbs  he  was  put  to  death.  The  place  is  also 
noted  for  the  treaty  of  peace  which  was  concluded  here 
between  Mexico  and  the  United  States  in  1848. 

At  Lagos  the  Mexican  Central  branches  off  to  the 
west,  to  San  Bias. 

Halfway  to  the  Pacific  coast  is  the  quaint  old  city  of 
Guadalajara,  in  the  State  of  Jalisco.  The  bare  browu 
hills  by  which  it  is  surrounded  would  look  dreary  enough 
but  for  the  gold  of  the  sunlight  and  the  blue  of  the  sky, 
nowhere  brighter  than  in  Mexico.  The  city  is  two  miles 
square  and  is  laid  out  with  straight  wide  streets  crossing 
at  right  angles,  with  narrow  sidewalks  and  one-stoiy  flat- 
roofed  houses  built  about  a  large  courtyard.  It  is  a  city 
of  churches.  The  sky-line  is  everywhere  broken  by 
domes  and  spires  with  minarets  and  round  towers  built 
by  men  who  learned  architecture  from  the  Moors.  It 
has  a  beautiful  alameda  and  many  fine  old  trees,  with 
arcades  surrounding  the  public  square  in  the  centre  of 
the  city.  Dominating  all  is  the  great  cathedral  with  its 
decorations  of  blue  and  gold  and  a  spire  two  hundred 
feet  high;  this  building  was  very  much  injured  by  the 
great  earthquake  in  the  early  part  of  this  century. 
Among  so  many  demolished  churches  and  churches  at 
auction  and  churches  given  away,  it  is  remarkable  that 
Guadalajara  is  building  a  new  one  which  when  complet- 
ed will  be  very  magnificent.  To  preserve  the  building 
from  earthquakes  a  huge  cross  has  been  erected  within 
the  walls. 

Guadalajara  boasts  sixteen  public  squares  and  many 
fine  public  buildings,  the  State  university,  the  mint,  the 
palaces  of  the  governor  and  the  archbishop  and  the 
largest  theatre  in  America.  Nor  is  it  behind  in  modern 


358  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

improvements — electric  lights,  telephones  and  telegraphs, 
besides  the  railroad  which  links  it  to  the  Atlantic  and  the 
Pacific,  and  a  college  for  girls.  Outside  the  city  limits 
are  a  number  of  factories,  Guadalajara  being  the  chief 
centre  for  wool  and  cotton  industries. 

Puebla,  nestled  among  the  cloud-capped  summits  over- 
looking the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  ranks  next  to  the  capital 
in  size  and  importance.  From  this  situation,  seven  thou- 
sand feet  above  the  sea,  is  a  magnificent  outlook.  The  cli- 
mate is  unsurpassed  even  in  this  land  of  perpetual  spring. 
Puebla  is  connected  by  a  branch  road  with  the  railway 
from  Vera  Cruz  to  the  capital.  Its  wide,  clean,  well- 
drained  streets,  imposing  churches,  substantial  houses 
and  delightful  surroundings  of  hill  and  grove  are  pleas- 
ant to  look  upon  whichever  way  the  eye  may  turn.  The 
whole  place  had  an  air  of  thrift  and  enterprise  before  the 
great  awakening  of  recent  years.  Its  cotton-  and  flour- 
ing-mills,  foundries,  porcelain-  and  glass-works  and  the 
manufacture  of  pulque  make  it  quite  a  business  centre, 
but  it  is  chiefly  noted  as  one  of  the  holy  cities  of  Mex- 
ico. Its  cathedral  is  proudly  called  "  De  los  Angelos," 
from  the  old  tradition  that  after  its  massive  towers  had 
been  upreared  the  angels  came  down  each  night  and 
helped  to  decorate  the  magnificent  interior.  Its  pillars, 
ninety  feet  high,  support  a  graceful  dome  from  whose 
centre  hangs  a  ponderous  chandelier  whose  solid  gold 
and  silver  are  tons  in  weight.  The  high  altar,  of  trans- 
lucent marble  inlaid  with  gold,  was  a  gift  of  one  of  the 
bishops.  Some  of  its  great  stones  are  as  exquisite  in 
color  and  finish  as  is  any  gem  in  a  lady's  ring.  The 
image  of  the  Virgin  shrined  here  is  almost  life-size,  and 
is  so  bedizened  with  pearls  and  emeralds  and  diamonds  as 
to  be  worth  millions.  Delicate  and  airy  wood-carvings, 


THE  LAND:  ITS  PRODUCTS  AND   CITIES.     359 

splendid  tapestries  wrought  in  old  Spain  by  royal  hands, 
paintings  by  old  masters,  a  wilderness  of  statuary  gilded 
and  graven  and  sanctified  by  years  of  worship,  make  the 
cathedral  of  Puebla  one  of  the  sights  of  Mexico.  Here, 
also,  in  a  city  of  churches,  convents  and  priests,  was  a 
branch  of  the  Inquisition,  under  the  care  of  Dominican 
friars ;  its  buildings  have  recently  been  purchased  from 
the  government  by  the  Methodist  mission.  One  of  the 
gilded  rooms  of  which  they  took  possession  had  in  its 
walls  a  door  which  had  been  plastered  up.  This  was 
knocked  open,  and  a  room  was  found  in  which  were 
many  human  skeletons.  The  hapless  victims  had  evi- 
dently been  let  down  through  a  well-like  opening  over- 
head and  left  alone  to  die,  the  living  among  the  dead. 
From  the  courtyard  of  this  terrible  prison  thirteen  cart- 
loads of  human  bones  were  taken  before  it  could  be  made 
suitable  for  the  purposes  of  the  mission. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 
"A  LIGHT  THAT  SHINETH  IN  A  DARK  PLACE." 


I 


N  1524, 
when  Cor- 
tez  was  forg- 
ing the  chains 
of  Mexico  and 
rebuilding  the  con- 
quered city,  a  flame 
burst  out  in  Europe 
which  soon  grew  to  a 
general  conflagration. 
The  peasantry  of  Ger- 
many were  literally  interpreting 
God's  good  news  of  "  liberty  to  the 
captive  and  the  opening  of  the  prison 
to  them  who  are  bound."  The  printing-press  stood 
ready  to  speak  for  them,  and  thousands  of  handbills — 
probably  the  first  ever  thrown  to  the  winds — were  scat- 
tered broadcast,  proclaiming  the  gospel  of  freedom  for 
the  people.  The  hard-working  Germans  were  roused  to 
a  new  sense  of  their  manhood.  When  the  spokesman 
of  their  great  multitude  came  to  plead  their  cause  with 

360 


"LIGHT  THAT  SHINETH  IN  A  DARK  PLACE."     361 

the  army  of  the  Empire,  he  had  an  open  Bible  in  his 
hand,  and,  pointing  to  the  sacred  pages,  he  exclaimed, 
solemnly,  "  We  ask  nothing  which  is  not  promised  to  us 
here  by  the  founders  of  Christianity."  In  time  these 
peasants  were  crushed,  but  others  rose  in  their  stead; 
their  inspiring  thought  lived  on.  The  Reformation  bore 
fruit  in  new  longings  for  liberty.  Long-buried  truths 
dropped  in  many  a  crevice  of  old  foundations  had  been 
for  two  hundred  years  silently  making  their  way  into 
the  light  and  the  air ;  they  were  now  forcing  apart  each 
hindering  clod  and  stone,  and  proving  that 

"One  germ  of  life  is  mightier 

Than  a  whole  universe  of  death." 

Ancient  thrones  and  citadels  fast  gave  way  before  the 
new  principle  that  power  should  be  invested  in  the 
people.  From  the  outset  the  ruling  classes  traced  this 
idea  to  the  Bible,  which  Luther  had  just  then  put  into 
the  hands  of  the  people  in  their  own  language,  and  both 
the  book  and  its  reader  were  hated  accordingly. 

There  seems  to  be  a  natural  antagonism  between  the 
Church  of  Rome  and  a  Bible  which  common  people 
can  read.  Throughout  Christendom  this  precious  book 
was  for  centuries  concealed  from  the  masses  in  a  dead 
language,  until  it  became  an  almost  forgotten  part  of 
that  "  whole  armor  of  God  "  which  he  has  commanded 
his  Church  to  take  in  her  spiritual  warfare.  The  gospel 
which  had  been  preached  to  the  poor  had  thus  a  political 
outcome  over  which  kings,  priests,  and  even  Reformers 
themselves,  trembled.  It  is  true  that  Protestantism  be- 
came at  times  a  political  engine,  but  God  worked  through 
it  in  fulfillment  of  his  own  word :  "  Every  valley  shall 
be  exalted  and  every  hill  brought  low." 


362  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

It  was  in  the  thirteenth  century,  when  all  Eurojx;  waa 
arousing  from  the. torpor  of  the  Dark  Ages,  that  trans- 
lations of  the  Bible  into  several  vernacular  languages 
first  appeared.  In  this  great  movement  Spain  was  a 
leader.  King  Alphonso  the  Wise  caused  a  Spanish 
translation  of  the  Bible  to  be  made  in  1 260  "  for  the 
improvement  of  the  Castiliau  language;"  this  manu- 
script may  be  seen  in  the  library  of  the  Escorial.  In 
1478,  fourteen  years  before  Columbus  discovered  Amer- 
ica, we  hear  of  a  Spanish  Bible  published  in  the  city  of 
Valencia.  The  feeling  of  the  priesthood  over  this  en- 
terprise is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  work  was  sup- 
pressed and  the  impression  burned.  Scarcely  a  copy 
escaped. 

But  little  seems  to  have  been  known,  however,  of 
these  translations  by  the  common  people,  who  most 
needed  them ;  for  when  Francis  de  Enzinas,  a  pious 
Spaniard,  desired  for  his  countrymen  the  treasure  of 
God's  word  in  their  mother-tongue,  he  went  to  Witten- 
berg to  be,  as  he  supposed,  a  pioneer  translator  of  the 
New  Testament  into  Spanish.  He  did  the  work  under 
the  eye  of  Melanchthou.  The  first  edition,  dedicated  to 
Charles  V.,  was  published  in  the  year  1544.  De  Soto. 
the  confessor  of  the  emperor,  warned  him  of  the  dan- 
gerous tendencies  of  this  book,  and  poor  Enzinas,  though 
he  had  been  promised  the  royal  patronage,  was  arrested 
and  thrown  into  prison.  The  printing  of  one  verse  of 
his  translation  in  capital  letters  nearly  cost  the  bold  man 
his  life.  It  was  Romans  iii.  28  :  "  Therefore  we  con- 
clude that  a  man  is  justified  by  faith  without  the  deeds 
of  the  law." 

"For  what  reason,"  said  the  inquisitors,  when  they 
tormented  him  with  questions,  "  have  you  had  this 


"LIGHT  THAT  SHfNETH  IN  A  DARK  PLACE."     363 

Lutheran  maxim  set  in  capital  letters?  It  is  a  very 
grave  offence,  and  deserves  burning." 

"This  doctrine  was  not  devised  in  Luther's  brain," 
replied  Enzinas ;  "  its  source  is  the  mysterious  throne  of 
the  eternal  Father,  and  it  was  revealed  to  the  Church  by 
the  ministry  of  St.  Paul  for  the  salvation  of  every  one 
that  believeth." 

While  in  confinement  and  in  the  face  of  death  at  the 
stake  Enzinas  translated  the  Psalms  and  preached  the 
gospel  to  all  who  would  hear  him. 

It  is  pleasant  to  record  the  escape  of  this  bold  con- 
fessor after  a  long  imprisonment.  He  had  become  very 
sad  one  night,  depressed  in  mind  and  body,  and,  going 
to  the  grating  of  his  cell  for  air,  he  discovered  the  door 
to  be  unfastened.  He  passed  through  this,  and  found 
the  second  unlocked  also,  and  then  the  third,  which 
opened  into  the  street,  as  though  an  angel  had  unbarred 
them  as  did  Peter's  heavenly  visitor. 

These  facts  show  that  Spain  was  in  possession  of  the 
word  of  God  when  she  extended  her  sceptre  over  the 
pagans  of  America.  The  ambition  of  her  military  ad- 
venturers there  was  not  only  to  enrich  her  coffers  with 
golden  spoil,  but  to  conquer  a  new  world  for  the 
pope. 

Xever  did  the  Church  of  Rome  have  a  grander  oppor- 
tunity than  in  Mexico  to  give  to  perishing  souls  the  gos- 
pel as  it  is  set  forth  in  God's  word.  Almost  every  tribe 
had  bowed  to  the  yoke  of  Spain  and  accepted  the  religion 
imposed  by  their  conquerors ;  but  during  the  three  cen- 
turies of  Spanish  rule  the  Bible  seems  never  to  have 
been  brought  to  this  dark  shore,  or,  if  it  was,  the  book 
was  hidden  away  in  some  mouldy  library,  to  be  read  by 
priests  alone.  If  the  voice  of  the  Reformation  ever 


3G4  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

sounded  in  this  region  and  shadow  of  death,  it  was  soon 
silenced  by  the  Inquisition,  which  had  a  dungeon-grave 
for  every  gospel  inquirer,  whether  in  Europe,  in  Asia  or 
in  America.  God  has  not  been  without  his  witnesses  in 
every  age  and  in  every  country,  but  the  names  of  few 
shine  out  to  human  eyes  in  the  annals  of  the  Church  in 
Mexico.  The  historians  of  no  Christian  land  were  so 
silent  with  regard  to  the  Reformation  as  were  those  of 
Spain.  Yet  thousands  of  whom  the  world  knows  little 
or  nothing  died  there  for  the  faith  of  Jesus.  Among 
those  who  left  only  a  name  was  Juan  de  Leon,  who  lived 
in  Mexico  and  fled  from  that  country  to  Spain,  only  to 
be  arrested  there  by  the  Inquisition  and  burned  at  the 
stake  in  1559,  a  heroic  martyr  for  Christ. 

Never  were  printing-presses  watched  more  vigilantly 
than  were  those  of  Spain  at  that  time.  No  book  could 
be  sold  or  read  without  an  order  from  the  Inquisition ; 
a  bookseller  dared  not  open  a  bale  of  goods  without  its 
permission.  The  same  rules  were  faithfully  carried  out 
in  Mexico.  Even  one  obnoxious  passage  in  a  whole 
edition  of  books  was  erased,  and  some  volumes  thus 
mutilated  can  to-day  be  seen  in  libraries  there.  Cardi- 
nal Ximenes,  one  of  the  chief  promoters  of  the  Holy 
Office,  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  "  the  Holy  Scriptures 
should  be  confined  to  the  three  ancient  languages  which 
God  with  mystic  import  permitted  to  be  inscribed  over 
the  head  of  his  crucified  Son."  We  do  not  find,  there- 
fore, any  mention  of  Bible  translation  or  Bible  printing 
in  Spanish  America  until  1831,  when  liberal  principles 
began  to  assert  themselves  even  in  the  Church  of  Rome 
by  a  new  version  of  the  entire  Bible  prepared  by  eight 
Mexican  priests  and  published  in  the  capital  by  Ribera 
in  1833.  Before  that  time,  however,  a  Spanish  New 


"LIGHT  THAT  SHINETH  IN  A  DARK  PLACE."     365 

Testament  had  been  secretly  circulating  in  Mexico. 
Spanish  prisoners  of  war  had  taken  with  them  to  Spain 
and  to  her  former  colonies  in  this  country  thousands  of 
copies  of  the  New  Testament  translated  by  Enzinas  and 
published  by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society.  Amid 
the  wild  havoc  of  war  the  blessed  story  "  of  Jesus  and 
his  love  "  was  breathed  in  many  an  ear  as  this  little  book 
sped  on  his  errands  of  peace.  The  fruit  of  such  seed- 
sowing  appeared  along  many  a  path  yet  untrodden  by 
other  messengers  of  the  cross.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Biugham, 
then  secretary  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  went  into 
Mexico  in  1826,  and  everywhere  found  a  great  thirst 
for  the  word  of  God.  He  shipped  to  the  capital  five 
hundred  Bibles  and  one  hundred  and  thirty  New  Tes- 
taments. It  was  his  opinion  that  up  to  that  time  not 
more  than  two  thousand  copies  of  the  Scriptures  had 
ever  reached  Mexico. 

The  Mexican  clergy  seem  to  have  been  divided  among 
themselves  as  to  the  expediency  of  circulating  the  Bible. 
At  one  time  a  poster  appeared  on  the  inside  door  of  the 
cathedral  in  Vera  Cruz  announcing  the  publication  of 
a  Spanish  Bible  with  notes,  under  the  patronage  of  the 
archbishop ;  the  same  notice  appeared  in  Mexico.  But 
this  edition  was  in  thirty  parts  and  cost,  unbound,  eight 
dollars  a  copy.  Another  record  tells  us  that  the  only 
terms  on  which  a  Spanish  Bible  could  be  procured  was 
by  the  payment  of  thirty  dollars  for  the  book  itself,  and 
thirty  dollars  more  to  the  curate  of  the  parish  for  the 
privilege  of  reading  it.  The  bargain  was  completed 
when  the  buyer  solemnly  promised  not  to  read  his 
treasure  in  the  presence  of  wife,  children  or  servants. 

Such  a  case  is  reported  in  the  Bible  Record  for  1880. 
A  gentleman  was  traveling  in  Mexico,  in  the  wildest 


3GG  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

part  of  the  country,  where  great  danger  was  to  be  feared 
from  brigands.  As  he  walked  along  he  saw  in  the  dis- 
tance a  clump  of  trees,  and  in  the  little  space  among 
them,  sitting  in  a  circle  on  the  ground,  were  several 
men.  He  feared  that  he  had  run  into  the  very  danger 
he  was  trying  to  avoid,  but  put  on  a  bold  face  and 
pushed  on.  As  he  drew  nearer  he  saw  an  old  man 
reading  aloud  to  the  others  from  a  book.  The  men 
rose  as  he  came  up  to  them  and  received  him  politely, 
and,  making  room  in  their  circle,  invited  him  to  sit 
down  on  the  ground  with  them.  Seeing  that  they  meant 
no  harm,  he  accepted  their  invitation.  Taking  his  seat 
next  the  old  man,  he  asked  to  see  what  he  was  reading. 
To  his  surprise  and  joy  he  found  that  the  circle  had  a 
copy  of  the  New  Testament  published  by  the  American 
Bible  Society. 

Another  story  is  to  be  referred,  probably,  to  a  still 
earlier  date.  Many  years  ago,  when  Mexico  was  almost 
wholly  without  the  Bible,  a  Mexican  gentleman  who 
owned  a  large  hacienda  in  one  of  the  northern  provinces 
became  acquainted  in  a  very  remarkable  manner  with 
the  saving  truth  of  the  gospel.  He  was  wealthy,  and 
employed  so  many  to  serve  him  that  he  might  be  said 
to  own  a  village.  He  was  proud  of  his  Spanish  ances- 
try, and  delighted  to  tell  of  the  time  when  those  of  his 
family  who  first  came  from  Spain  to  America  became 
the  fortunate  possessors  of  an  image  of  wood  called  San 
Roman,  said  to  have  been  found  floating  in  the  water  in 
mid-ocean.  His  ancestors  named  their  estate  in  New 
Spain  after  this  image ;  they  built  a  chapel  for  it,  and 
worshiped  it.  When  the  season  was  dry,  as  it  often  was, 
they  brought  San  Roman  out  and  carried  him  in  solemn 
procession  about  the  place,  hoping  in  this  way  to  bring 


"LIGHT  THAT  SHINETH  IN  A  DARK  PLACE."     367 

refreshing  rain.  In  case  of  sickness  or  any  other  trouble 
they  prayed  to  Sau  Roman  and  gave  to  him  the  glory 
which  a  true  Christian  gives  only  to  God.  The  planter 
of  San  Roman  could  neither  read  nor  write,  and  not  a  per- 
son on  his  great  estate  was  any  better  off  than  he  in  this 
respect.  One  day,  while  in  Matamoras  on  business,  a 
Mexican  gentleman  showed  our  friend  a  book  which  he 
called  the  word  of  God.  He  had  heard  of  God  and  of 
his  Son,  but  never  before  that  this  great  Being  had  writ- 
ten anything  that  men  could  read. 

"  Was  it  a  letter,"  he  asked,  "  or  a  history  ?" 

The  planter  persevered  in  his  inquiries  until  he  had 
heard  enough  about  this  wonderful  book  to  want  it  with 
all  his  heart,  and  at  once  he  offered  the  owner  twenty 
silver  dollars  for  it.  The  gentleman  would  not  sell  it 
for  any  money;  he  too  valued  it  as  a  priceless  treas- 
ure. 

But  the  planter  of  San  Roman  was  not  to  be  put  off. 

"  You  can  get  another  copy,"  he  said,  "  and  I  cannot. 
I  have  never  heard  till  now  that  God  had  sent  any  mes- 
sage to  this  world,  but,  since  he  has,  I  must  have  it. 
Take  the  twenty  dollars,  and  I'll  keep  the  book."  So 
saying,  he  folded  the  precious  volume  under  his  serape 
and  rode  away. 

The  planter  had  nearly  fifty  miles  to  go  before  he 
reached  the  house  of  a  friend  who  could  read  this  won- 
derful message  to  him.  He  stopped  his  horse  at  the  door 
and  called  out  to  his  friend  to  go  home  with  him ;  "  for," 
said  he,  "  I  have  a  book — a  strange  book — for  you  to  read, 
and  I  want  my  family  to  hear  it  too.  I  do  not  know  how 
to  wait  until  you  shall  open  it  to  me ;"  adding,  with  a 
solemn  air,  "  It  is  the  word  of  God  to  men." 

The  friend  thus  appealed  to  was  not  so  much  interest- 


368  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

ed  in  this  precious  treasure  as  was  the  planter,  and  he 
was  at  first  unwilling  to  go  on  such  an  errand ;  but, 
being  urged,  he  mounted  his  horse,  and  the  two  men 
rode  on  to  San  Roman. 

No  sooner  had  the  planter  reached  his  home  than  he 
ordered  the  ringing  of  the  great  bell  which  called  the 
hands  in  from  every  part  of  the  estate.  Hearing  the 
sound  at  this  unusual  hour,  the  people  came  crowding 
to  the  large  patio  of  his  mansion.  He  ordered  every 
one  to  be  seated  to  hear  important  news.  After  a  few 
words  of  explanation,  the  master  turned  to  his  friend 
and  said, 

"  Now  begin  at  the  beginning,  and  read  on  until  we 
shall  understand." 

The  reader  held  a  small  Spanish  Testament  in  his 
hand  and  opened  it  at  the  first  chapter  of  Matthew. 
Verse  after  verse  the  hard,  strange  names  rolled  over 
his  tongue,  as  meaningless  to  the  listeners  as  were  the 
Latin  prayers  they  had  been  accustomed  to  hear  mum- 
bled when  they  went  to  mass.  At  last  he  came  to  the 
twenty-first  verse,  which  declares  that  Jesus  shall  save 
his  people  from  their  sins.  The  people  began  to  get 
some  light  and  were  interested.  The  story  of  the  wise 
men  from  the  East  and  the  little  children  who  were 
killed  in  Bethlehem  made  a  great  impression.  And 
so  they  went  on  with  the  story  of  Christ's  baptism,  his 
temptation  in  the  wilderness,  the  death  of  his  friend 
John,  the  feeding  of  the  "  five  thousand  men,  beside 
women  and  children."  Missionaries  of  our  own  time 
tell  of  Mexicans  who  sit  up  all  night  to  hear  the  Bible 
read,  and  these  people  had  the  same  thirst  for  the  word 
of  God  which  characterizes  many  of  their  ignorant  coun- 
trymen. 


"LIGHT  THAT  SHINETH  IN  A  DARK  PLACE."     369 

When  the  reader  began  the  story  of  Christ's  betrayal, 
murmurs  of  sorrow  ran  through  the  listening  company. 
Where  the  Saviour  was  crucified,  they  wept  and  bowed 
their  heads.  How  sad,  how  dark,  the  outlook  for  those 
who  had  already  learned  to  love  the  sinner's  Friend ! 
But,  thanks  be  to  God,  the  story  did  not  end  there; 
the  cross  and  the  grave  were  not  all.  Christ  rose  again ; 
he  walked  and  talked  with  his  disciples,  and  then  ascend- 
ed on  high  as  a  conqueror,  saying  at  the  last,  "  Lo,  I  am 
with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

As  the  wonderful  story  was  finished  the  master  rose, 
and,  looking  around  upon  his  family  and  people,  said, 

"  There  was  one  thing  I  was  most  glad  to  hear :  it  is 
that  last  word  of  Jesus,  when  he  tells  his  disciples  to  go 
out  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature.  They  were  to  teach  every  one  everything  he 
had  taught  them.  Now,  my  friends,  some  of  these  men 
will  come  to  San  Roman  to  tell  us  this  good  news,  to  in- 
struct us  as  the  Lord  instructed  them;  they  will  soon 
be  here,  no  doubt.  Meanwhile,  I  must  learn  to  read 
this  wonderful  book,  and  you,  my  sons,"  turning  to 
them,  "  must  learn  too,  in  order  to  read  again  the  story 
of  the  Saviour's  life  and  to  do  what  he  commands  us. 
The  disciples  have  been  a  long  while  coming  to  us,  but 
the  world  is  large,  you  know ;  they  will  certainly  come, 
for  Jesus  thus  has  commanded  them." 

The  owner  of  San  Roman  and  his  sons  at  once  began 
to  learn  to  read  the  precious  book.  The  good  news  was 
read  from  time  to  time  to  every  one  on  the  plantation, 
and  there,  as  of  old  in  Judea,  the  common  people  heard 
Christ  gladly.  Year  after  year  they  met  on  the  Lord's 
day  as  the  apostles  taught,  until  at  last  a  Christian  settle- 
ment flourished  where  once  San  Roman  was  worshiped. 

24 


370  ABOUT  MEXICO.  . 

That  old  image  was  soon  forgotten.  No  more  flowers 
or  jewels  were  offered  at  the  forsaken  shrine,  and  no 
incense  went  up  with  the  prayers  to  a  senseless  block 
of  wood. 

At  length  the  planter  heard  that  a  man  who  talked 
like  the  book  was  in  Matamoras.  He  got  on  his  horse 
quickly  and  went  in  search  of  him.  He  would  bring 
him  to  San  Roman,  where  so  many  were  waiting  and 
longing  for  Christ's  messenger. 

The  preacher  was  soon  found,  for  just  then  all  Mata- 
moras was  stirred  with  his  words ;  but  it  was  with  great 
difficulty  he  could  be  persuaded  to  go  so  far  into  the 
country.  He  had  come  to  Matamoras  on  only  a  short 
visit,  and  must  go  back  to  his  own  flock.  But  the 
planter  would  take  no  denial.  Go  he  must,  and  go  he 
did,  to  preach  to  the  people  of  San  Roman. 

Once  more  the  great  bell  was  rung,  and  the  people 
came  crowding  into  the  patio  to  hear  that  gospel  which 
had  now  become  the  word  of  life  to  them  all. 

When  the  sermon  was  over,  the  host  had  a  question 
to  ask: 

"  Sir,  you  have  not  told  us  why  you  were  so  long  in 
coming  to  us.  Did  not  Christ  tell  you  before  he  went 
up  that  you  were  to  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creat- 
ure? How  long  ago  was  that?" 

"Eighteen  hundred  years,"  replied  the  missionary, 
awed  by  the  look  of  sad  surprise  which  his  host  had 
turned  upon  him. 

"' Eighteen  hundred  years'!  And  what  were  the 
disciples  doing,  that  they  did  not  teach  all  nations 
long  ago?  Surely  the  Lord  said,  'I  am  with  you 
alway'?"  • 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  missionary,  sadly,  "  there  is  par- 


"LIGHT  THAT  SHINETH  IN  A  DARK  PLACE."     371 

don  for  sin,  and  they  ought  to  have  spread  the  news ; 
but  for  many  long  years  the  Church  has  been  asleep 
over  her  duty.  But  you  have  heard  it,  and  let  us  pray 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  may  work  in  the  hearts  of  God's 
people  until  their  love  and  faith  and  zeal  shall  carry  the 
news  of  salvation  not  only  throughout  Mexico,  but  to 
the  utmost  bounds  of  the  earth." 

When  war  broke  out  between  the  United  States  and 
Mexico,  in  1846,  agents  of  the  Bible  Society  followed 
the  invading  army.  The  pioneer  missionary  in  Mexico, 
however,  was  Miss  Meliuda  Rankin,  a  devoted  school- 
teacher from  New  England,  who  took  her  place  in 
Brownsville,  Texas,  just  over  the  border,  long  before 
Mexico  was  opened,  and  there  besieged  one  gate  to  this 
benighted  land.  The  kind  of  faith  which  can  say  to  a 
mountain,  "  Be  thoti  removed,  and  be  thou  cast  into  the 
sea,"  was  here. 

Poor  vanquished  Mexico  was  yet  distracted  with 
internal  troubles,  bleeding  with  wounds  our  country 
had  inflicted  upon  her,  and  too  ignorant  of  her  real 
degradation  to  know  that  those  of  her  own  household 
were  her  worst  enemies.  While  affairs  south  of  the 
Rio  Grande  were  in  this  forlorn  condition,  Miss  Rankiu, 
listening  to  the  sad  stories  told  by  returning  soldiers,  felt 
that  something  must  be  done  for  poor  Mexico.  "  Who," 
she  continually  asked  with  voice  and  with  pen,  "  will  go 
to  the  rescue  ?"  Her  efforts  were  all  in  vain.  Then  she 
resolved  to  go  herself.  She  could  not  preach,  but  she 
could  teach.  She  was  told  that  Texas  was  given  up  to 
outlaws,  and  that  even  if  she  could  pass  there  in  safety 
through  dangers  the  Mexicans  were  too  embittered  against 
the  United  States  to  listen  patiently  to  what  she  said. 

But  love  for  perishing  souls  was  stronger  than  all  these 


372  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

fears.  In  1852,  after  some  delay  at  Huutsville,  Texas, 
Miss  Rankin  opened  a  school  for  Mexican  children  in 
Brownsville,  Texas,  just  opposite  Matamoras,  in  Mexico. 
In  this  school  the  Bible  was  daily  and  faithfully  taught. 
Some  of  her  pupils  lived  across  the  river,  and  frequently 
returned  to  their  homes  in  Mexico  carrying  with  them 
the  New  Testaments  she  gave  them.  These  girls  were 
watched  by  a  company  of  French  nuns  who  had  estab- 
lished a  school  close  by  Mias  Rankin,  and  also  by  the 
Romish  priests  everywhere.  Sometimes  their  Testaments 
were  snatched  away  and  burned  by  lynx-eyed  inquisitors, 
but  most  of  them  escaped,  and  many  are  to-day  bring- 
ing forth  a  harvest  of  a  hundredfold. 

In  1855,  Miss  Rankin  became  convinced  that  the  work 
of  Bible-distribution  required  the  whole  time  of  one  per- 
son, and  applied  to  the  American  and  Foreign  Christian 
Union  (New  York)  to  seek  for  a  Christian  man  who 
could  speak  Spanish  to  come  to  Brownsville  and,  as  the 
door  opened,  to  enter  Mexico.  But  such  a  man  could 
not  be  found,  and  rather  than  see  the  work  hindered 
Miss  Rankin  secured  the  services  of  an  assistant  in  her 
school  and  devoted  herself  to  Bible  distribution.  Amer- 
ican friends  said,  "  The  Mexicans  turn  your  Bibles  over 
to  the  priests  to  burn."  After  investigation,  it  was  found 
that  this  was  very  seldom  the  case.  She  says,  "  I  found 
that  the  Mexicans  concealed  them  in  the  most  careful 
manner,  taking  them  out  and  reading  them  by  night. 
I  went  one  day  to  the  house  where  one  of  my  pupils 
resided  to  ask  concerning  her  absence,  and  also  to  make 
inquiry  after  a  Bible  I  had  furnished  her.  A  report 
had  crept  into  the  school  that  she  had  exchanged  it  with 
the  nuns  for  a  saint,  and  that  they  had  burned  it.  The 
mother  of  the  girl  met  me  at  the  door,  and  with  stream- 


"LIGHT  THAT  SHINETH  IN  A   DARK  PLACE."     373 

ing  eyes  told  me  that  her  daughter  had  died  of  yellow 
fever  but  a  short  time  before.  I  asked  if  she  had  her 
Bible.  She  replied,  '  No ;  I  put  her  Bible  in  her  coffin, 
as  she  loved  it  so  much,  and  it  was  buried  with  her/  " 
Orders  came  now  for  dozens  of  Bibles  at  once,  accom- 
panied by  money  to  pay  for  them. 

Miss  Rankin  was  greatly  aided  in  her  labors  by  a 
traveling  German  portrait-painter.  While  attending  to 
his  business  he  visited  the  homes  of  many  wealthy  peo- 
ple far  in  the  interior,  in  many  places  so  remote  that  they 
knew  comparatively  little  of  the  great  struggle  which 
was  then  going  on  over  Protestantism,  or,  if  they  did, 
had  those  about  them  who  were  thirsting  for  the  word 
of  God.  It  was  among  the  poor  his  message  was  most 
gladly  received.  He  often,  however,  encountered  violent 
opposition,  but  his  heart  was  burdened  with  the  spiritual 
needs  of  distracted  Mexico,  and  he  was  willing  to  suffer 
the  loss  of  all  things — even  of  life  itself — for  Christ's 
sake.  He  finally  lost  his  life  in  Mexico;  whether  he 
was  killed  as  a  Bible-distributor  or  for  the  purposes  of 
robbery  was  never  ascertained. 

In  1859  a  light  finally  dawned  upon  the  long  night 
of  darkness  in  Mexico.  On  Christmas  day  the  liberal 
army  under  Juarez  entered  the  capital  in  triumph ;  only 
the  night  before,  Miramon  and  his  defeated  forces  had 
fled  away.  It  was  a  glorious  victory  for  those  who  advo- 
cated religious  freedom.  The  great  change  was  heralded 
over  the  land  by  ringing  of  bells  and  firing  of  cannon. 
Matamoras,  on  the  northern  border,  was  illuminated,  and 
joined  in  the  general  rejoicing.  Miss  Rankin  says,  "As 
the  noise  from  Matamoras  broke  on  my  ear  I  thought  I 
never  had  heard  more  delightful  sounds,  and  my  heart 
bounded  in  joyful  anticipation  that  God's  word  could 


374  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

now  have  free  course  and  be  glorified."  Men  imme- 
diately came  over  from  Matamoras  for  Bibles  and  tracts, 
saying,  "  We  can  now  distribute  Protestant  books  with- 
out any  hindrance,  and  we  will  pay  you  for  all  you  can 
let  us  have." 

In  1860  the  American  Bible  Society  employed  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Thompson  to  labor  as  their  agent  in  Mexico, 
the  authorities  encouraging  his  work.  As  far  as  Mon- 
terey he  found  that  the  Bible  had  preceded  him  every- 
where. At  Cadereita,  thirty  miles  from  Monterey,  a 
man  met  him  with  the  abrupt  question,  "Are  you  not  a 
teacher  of  the  Bible?  I  have  dreamed  of  just  such  a 
looking  man  as  you ;  I  knew  that  somewhere  there  must 
be  the  living  teacher  of  this  book."  It  was  found  that 
this  man  was  well  read  in  the  Scriptures.  He  had 
thrown  aside  popery,  embraced  the  gospel,  and  gave 
good  evidence  of  being  truly  "  born  again."  In  1861 
this  Mexican  and  his  eldest  sou  came  to  Brownsville, 
and  after  careful  examination  were  received  into  a  Prot- 
estant church,  the  first  Mexicans  who  dared  to  come  out 
publicly  and  profess  the  Protestant  faith. 

In  1861,  Miss  Rankin  and  her  helpers  were  shut  out 
by  the  civil  war  from  communication  with  friends  in 
the  United  States,  and  Mr.  Thompson  returned  to  the 
United  States. 

Rev.  James  Hickey,  being  obliged,  as  a  Union  man, 
to  flee  from  Texas,  went  to  work  in  Mexico ;  he  was  the 
first  man  to  collect  a  congregation  of  Protestant  Mex- 
icans. In  two  places  he  found  churches  ready  for  organ- 
ization, the  result  of  Bible-reading  alone. 

After  laboring  for  years  amid  many  perils  and  some 
disasters,  Miss  Rankin's  long-cherished  desire  was  grant- 
ed, and  in  1866  she  crossed  over  into  Mexico  and  began 


"LIGHT  THAT  SHISETH  IN  A    DARK  PLACE."     375 


work  in  the  beautiful  city  of  Monterey.  The  hostility 
of  the  priests  was  so  great  that  during  the  first  three 
months  of  her  stay  in  that  city  she  moved  three  times 


MONTEREY. 


out  of  houses  she  had  rented 
and  then  was  obliged  to  leave. 
But  a  house  was  secured  at  last,  and  public 
worship  began.  Converts  multiplied,  aud 
some  of  them  were  by  this  time  capable  of  instructing 
their  countrymen  in  the  truths  of  the  Bible.  She  se- 
lected four  of  these  young  men  and  asked  them  if  they 


376 


ABOUT  MEXICO. 


would  be  willing  to  preach  Christ  among  their  people. 
They  hesitated — not  for  want  of  love  to  their  Master, 
but  because  they  were  laboring-men  and  had  families  to 
support.  Finding  that  they  needed  but  thirty  dollars  a 
month,  Miss  Rankin  resolved  to  set  them  at  work,  trust- 
ing for  their  support  to  the  liberality  of  Christian  friends 


CHUUCH    OF   SAN    FRANCISCO,    MONTEREY. 

in  the  United  States.  Sad  to  relate,  this  resource  failed 
her  just  now  when  the  field  was  so  white  to  the  harvest, 
and,  taking  her  life  in  her  hand,  as  she  had  done  so 
many  times  before,  this  noble  woman  went  to  the  United 
States  to  lay  the  cause  before  the  women  of  its  Protestant 


"LIGHT  THAT  SHINETH  IN  A  DARK  PLACE."     377 

churches.  These  Christian  sisters  took  the  measure  of 
her  plan,  and  sent  her  back  to  her  work  with  a  heart 
newly  inspired  with  love  and  faithrbelieviug  that  the 
day  would  soon  come  when  she  should  see  "  the  gospel 
preached  in  Mexico  by  the  Mexicans  themselves."  She 
had  secured  funds  which  enabled  her  to  employ  not  only 
four,  but  eight,  men. 

As  soon  as  possible  Miss  Rankin  gathered  her  laborers 
together  and  prepared  to  send  them  out  two  and  two,  as 
in  apostolic  days.  The  morning  came  for  their  depart- 
ure, and  she  noticed  that  two  of  the  young  men  looked 
troubled. 

"  Why  are  you  anxious  ?"  she  kindly  asked. 

The  men  said  they  expected  opposition,  and  were  par- 
ticularly afraid  of  a  priest  who  would  meet  them  with 
arguments  against  the  Bible.  They  were  so  ignorant; 
how  could  they  answer  him? 

Miss  Rankin  opened  the  Bible  at  the  tenth  chapter 
of  Luke  and  drew  attention  to  these  words:  "And  he 
sent  them  two  and  two  before  his  face  to  every  city  and 
place  whither  he  himself  would  come"  emphasizing  the  last 
clause,  assuring  the  men  that,  as  they  were  going  out  in 
Christ's  name  to  preach  his  gospel,  they  might  expect 
his  presence  and  blessing,  as  he  had  promised.  This 
scriptural  view  of  the  case  restored  confidence,  and  the 
young  brethren  cheerfully  took  up  their  bundles  of 
books  and  departed,  Miss  Rankin  looking  after  them 
with  the  joyful  exclamation  in  behalf  of  Mexico,  "Arise, 
shine,  for  thy  light  is  come,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is 
risen  upon  thee." 

At  the  close  of  a  month,  the  appointed  time,  every 
man  came  back  with  the  same  story  that  the  seventy 
told  to  Jesus  eighteen  hundred  years  ago.  The  two 


378  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

timid  ones  were  especially  happy ;  even  the  priest  they 
had  dreaded  had  nothing  to  say  against  the  Bible  when 
they  met  him.  The  Bible  was  opened  again  and  the 
story  repeated,  with  emphasis  now  on  these  words: 
"  Lord,  even  the  devils  are  subject  unto  us  through 
thy  name." 

This  work  continued  from  month  to  month  until  the 
whole  country  within  one  hundred  miles  of  Monterey 
had  been  traversed  by  the  eight  Mexican  colporteurs. 
And  now  should  they  not  press  on  to  regions  beyond 
if  the  Master  made  a  way  ?  It  was  soon  opened.  Two  of 
these  young  men  were  sent  to  Zacatecas,  a  distance  of  be- 
tween three  and  four  hundred  miles.  They  were  the  two 
timid  brethren  who  ventured  forth  on  this  long  and  dan- 
gerous road,  accompanied  by  two  colporteurs  employed 
by  the  Bible  Society.  At  Villa  de  Cos,  near  Zacatecas, 
they  remained  several  weeks,  teaching  and  preaching 
with  great  acceptance.  "  Scarcely,"  said  they,  "  do  we 
find  time  to  eat  or  to  sleep,  so  anxious  are  the  people 
to  hear  our  readings  from  God's  word." 

When,  in  1873,  Miss  Rankin  was  compelled  by  fail- 
ing health  to  give  her  Bible-work  into  other  hands,  there 
were  hundreds  of  converted  Mexicans,  in  six  organized 
churches,  with  a  school  attached  to  each  church  and  a 
training-school  for  boys  in  the  seminary-building  in  Mon- 
terey. Miss  Cochrane  writes  in  1881  :  "All  but  one  of 
Mr.  Thomson's  theological  class  of  ten  young  men  date 
their  awakening  to  the  time  when  Miss  Rankin  was  here. 
Don  Pablo,  the  tenth  man,  came  from  a  little  village 
where  a  single  copy  of  the  Bible  began  the  work."  This 
mission  is  now  under  the  care  of  the  Foreign  Board  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church. 

In  1878  the  first  Bible-store  was  opened  in  the  City 


11  LIGHT  THAT  SHINETH  IN  A  DARK  PLACE."     379 

of  Mexico.  The  passers-by  stopped  at  its  windows  to 
gaze  with  mingled  curiosity  and  awe  on  a  book  which,  it 
was  claimed,  was  the  word  of  God.  One  peasant  from  the 
mountains,  who  came  back  to  buy  a  Bible,  had  walked 
seventy  miles  for  this  sole  purpose  and  in  the  purchase 
spent  all  that  he  had.  He  carried  home  the  precious 
book,  and  read  it  to  his  family  and  his  neighbors.  They 
had  no  time  to  listen  to  him  during  the  day,  but  they 
came  from  far  and  near  at  night  to  his  humble  cabin  and 
took  turns  in  furnishing  him  with  candles.  One  aged 
couple  walked  twenty  miles  night  after  night  to  hear 
these  wonderful  words  of  life. 

Thus  we  see  that  God  has  put  special  honor  on  the 
Scriptures  of  truth  in  the  early  evangelization  of  Mex- 
ico. In  hundreds  of  instances  in  every  part,  of  the  land 
it  has  preceded  the  missionary,  and  again  and  again  con- 
gregations have  been  found  all  ready  for  organization  as 
churches  where  the  voice  of  the  living  preacher  had  never 
been  heard.  The  reading  of  the  Bible  alone,  blessed  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  saving  of  souls,  has  proved  how 
true  are  the  Psalmist's  words:  "The  entrance  of  thy 
word  giveth  light." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

REGENERATION  OF  MEXICO. 

THE  people  of  Mexico  had  been  praying  in  an  un- 
known tongue  for  more  than  three  hundred  years, 
when  a  devoted  priest,  Francisco  Aguilar,  began  to  read 
and  to  ponder  the  teachings  of  the  Holy  Scripture  with 
regard  to  prayer.  As  he  studied  the  history  of  the  apos- 
tolic Church  the  great  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith 
loomed  up  before  him  as  a  new  truth,  and  that  peace 
which  he  had  so  vainly  sought  in  fasts  and  in  penances 
began  to  flow  into  his  soul.  His  eyes  were  now  opened 
to  see  the  miserable  perversions  of  Scripture  which  Rome 
had  taught  for  truth.  Like  the  apostle  Andrew,  Aguilar 
abode  with  the  Master  for  one  day,  and  then,  eagerly 
seeking  for  some  one  to  whom  he  could  communicate  the 
blessing  which  filled  his  own  heart,  brought  a  brother- 
priest  to  Jesus.  Thus  one  friend  told  another,  until  a 
band  of  fifty  Bible  students  had  been  formed  whose 
undreamed-of  strength  at  first  woke  no  opposition.  But 
as  the  truth  spread  the  spirit  of  persecution  was  aroused. 
The  Church  began  to  thunder  out  its  warnings  and 
curses,  but  Aguilar,  strong  in  the  Lord,  went  on  his 
way  undismayed. 

An  effort  had  been  made  by  a  few  earnest  souls  as 
early  as  1861  to  leave  the  Church  of  Rome  and  build  on 
true  foundations.  This  work  now  took  shape,  and  in 

380 


REGENERATION  OF  MEXICO.  381 

1865  the  first  Protestant  congregation  was  gathered  in 
the  capital,  under  the  leadership  of  Aguilar.  They  called 
themselves  "  The  Church  of  Jesus,"  and  were  known 
from  the  outset  as  strong  advocates  of  an  open  Bible  in 
the  language  of  the  people  and  of  prayer  in  their  mother- 
tongue.  Aguilar's  ministry  was  short,  but  productive. 
He  died  in  1865,  a  victim  to  the  cruelty  of  Rome.  The 
Church  of  Jesus  had  been  put  under  ban.  No  Roman- 
ist would  give  or  sell  its  members  food,  and  they  were 
driven  out  of  every  house  where  they  attempted  to  find 
shelter.  The  pastor  was  among  the  first  victims  of  these 
privations,  and  after  his  death  the  little  flock  were  scat- 
tered by  their  relentless  persecutors. 

In  the  summer  of  1868,  Miss  Raukin  was  in  the 
United  States  soliciting  aid  for  her  work  in  Monterey, 
when  she  met  the  Rev.  H.  C.  Riley,  then  the  pastor  of 
a  Spanish  Protestant  church  in  New  York  and  her  own 
personal  friend.  Her  statements  convinced  him  that  it 
was  his  duty  to  go  to  the  City  of  Mexico,  where  two 
hundred  thousand  souls  were  sitting  in  almost  heathen- 
ish darkness.  Three  years  afterward  Mr.  Riley  carried 
out  this  plan,  coming  to  Mexico  under  the  auspices  of 
the  American  and  Foreign  Christian  Union.  His  com- 
mand of  the  Spanish  language  enabled  him  at  once  to 
take  hold  of  the  work.  He  had  brought  with  him  a 
printing-press,  and  this  was  set  up  and  secretly  began 
its  work. 

The  effort  to  regather  Aguilar's  flock  and  organize  a 
church  resulted  in  a  split  on  the  subject  of  prelacy,  a 
strong  party  preferring  the  simplicity  and  freedom  of 
worship  with  which  they  began.  As  time  went  on  one 
party  affiliated  with  the  "  Church  of  Jesus,"  and  the 
other — nine  congregations  in  all — united  under  a  Pres- 


382  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

byterian  form  of  government.  The  Church  of  Jesus 
adopted  the  old  Spanish  liturgy  used  by  Christians  of 
Spain  during  the  centuries  in  which  they  held  aloof  from 
the  Church  of  Rome. 

At  last  the  liberal  government  felt  strong  enough  to 
provide  the  Protestants  with  a  house  for  public  worship. 
Confiscated  churches  by  scores  were  standing  empty,  and 
one  of  the  handsomest  of  these — the  church  of  San  Jose 
de  Gracia — was  sold  to  Dr.  Riley  for  a  merely  nominal 
sum.  The  fury  of  the  Romanists  knew  no  bounds. 
They  declared  that  the  day  the  Protestants  took  posses- 
sion of  that  church  the  pavement  should  stream  with 
their  blood. 

One  night,  as  Dr.  Riley  returned  to  his  lodgings,  he 
found  a  letter  thrust  under  his  door ;  in  this  letter  he 
was  told  that  six  men  had  sworn  to  waylay  and  kill  him. 
He  knew  that  in  those  lawless  times  it  would  be  easy  for 
them  to  fulfill  the  threat,  but  said,  "  If  life  must  be 
short,  let  it  be  earnest," 

A  pamphlet  exposing  the  errors  of  Rome  was  now 
sent  out  from  the  press.  A  copy  of  this  was  given  by 
a  brother-priest  to  Manuel  Aguas,  the  most  earnest  and 
eloquent  champion  of  the  Church  of  Rome  known  in 
Mexico,  and  a  bitter  enemy  of  Protestantism.  Aguas 
was  called  upon  to  answer  at  a  public  meeting  this 
bold  challenge  of  the  Protestants.  In  order  to  prepare 
himself  for  his  task,  he  took  the  tract  home  and  sat 
up  all  night  to  read  it.  Other  Romish  priests  had  done 
the  same,  and  had  been  hardened  in  error ;  but  Aguas 
was  pierced  to  the  heart.  He  opened  the  Bible,  so  long 
neglected  for  the  traditions  of  the  Church,  and  it  proved 
to  be  a  sword  of  the  Spirit  to  him.  He  wept  and  prayed, 
and  at  last,  yielding  to  his  convictions,  he  went  to  Dr. 


REGENERATION  OF  MEXICO.  383 

Riley,  saying,  "  Like  Saul  of  Tarsus,  I  have  persecuted 
the  Church  of  Christ,"  The  next  time  the  Church  of 
Jesus  met  they  were  astonished  to  see  their  old  adversary 
in  the  pulpit  preaching  the  faith  he  had  once  so  bitterly 
denied 

The  Romanists  were  panic-struck.  That  the  man  on 
whose  devotion  to  Rome,  on  whose  talents  and  influence, 
the  Church  had  depended  for  their  overthrow  should 
join  those  despised  Bible  Christians  was  indeed  a  ter- 
rible blow. 

When  the  day  came  for  the  opening  service  in  the 
church  of  San  Jose  de  Gracia,  Romanists  were  there 
thirsting  for  Protestant  blood ;  but  Aguas  was  not  with 
them.  He  stood  boldly  by  the  pastor,  ready  to  die,  if 
need  be,  for  the  faith. 

The  storm  of  persecution  now  raged  fiercely  around 
this  devoted  baud,  but  like  one  inspired  Aguas  preached 
Christ  and  him  crucified  as  the  only  salvation  from  sin. 
His  whole  soul  was  in  the  work.  Twelve  times  in  one 
week  he  was  in  the  pulpit.  "  Destitute,  afflicted,  tor- 
mented "  by  his  enemies,  he  toiled  on  for  three  years, 
until  at  last  he  sank  under  the  tremendous  strain  to 
mind  and  body.  His  last  sermon  was  from  the  text, 
"Blessed  are  they  which  are  persecuted  for  righteous- 
ness' sake:  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

Aguas  was  carried  from  his  pulpit  to  die.  As  sight 
and  memory  failed  some  one  leaned  over  him  and  whis- 
pered, "  Do  you  remember  the  blood  of  Christ  ?"  The 
old  light  kindled  again  on  his  pallid  face :  "  Oh  yes ! 
yes !  The  precious  blood  of  Jesus !"  and  so  he  passed 
to  his  reward. 

A  noble  band  of  more  than  forty  martyrs  have  sealed 
their  faith  by  their  blood  in  this  Church  of  Jesus.  Man- 


384  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

uel  Aguas,  the  pastor  and  bishop-elect  of  this  church, 
died  in  1872. 

Planted  in  fertile  soil,  this  organization  seemed  des- 
tined to  outnumber  all  others  and  become  the  leading 
evangelical  Church  in  Mexico.  At  one  time  they  claimed 
over  six  thousand  adherents,  and  half  that  number  of 
communicants.  It  is  now  sorely  rent,  however,  by  in- 
ternal dissension.  In  1884  the  communicants  numbered 
about  one  thousand,  and  fifty-two  preaching-places  were 
reported. 

Elsewhere  in  Mexico,  God's  word  had  "  free  course 
and  was  glorified."  In  1862  the  Rev.  James  Hickey, 
a  Baptist  minister,  began  a  good  work  in  the  city  of 
Matamoras  as  an  independent  missionary.  In  1863 
he  was  preaching  in  Monterey.  His  assistant  at  that 
time,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Westrup,  has  since  been  mur- 
dered by  the  Indians.  Mr.  Hickey  died  in  1866. 

The  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society  still 
holds  its  ground  in  Monterey,  and  has  also  established 
itself  in  the  capital.  It  has  (1886)  six  ordained  minis- 
ters and  a  membership  of  three  hundred.  The  Amer- 
ican Baptists  of  the  South  also  report  stations  in  Saltillo, 
Progreso,  Palos  and  Banas,  and  much  that  is  encouragiug. 

"  More  important,"  says  one,  u  than  the  rise  and  fall 
of  states  and  empires  is  the  going  forth  of  the  mission- 
aries of  the  cross  to  Christless  lands."  The  years  1872 
and  1873  are  thus  marked  in  the  annals  of  Mexico. 
Branches  of  the  Presbyterian,  Friends  and  Methodist 
churches  began  evangelical  work  there. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  built  on  foundations  already 
established.  Their  work  began  in  the  State  of  Zacatecas, 
in  Villa  de  Cos,  a  mining-town  about  sixty  miles  from 
the  State  capital,  where  Graysou  Prevost,  M.  D.,  of 


REGENERATION  OF  MEXICO.  385 

Philadelphia,  then  practicing  medicine  in  Zacatecas,  had 
gathered  a  company  of  Christian  believers.  These  peo- 
ple had  been  interested  in  the  religion  of  the  Bible  by 
a  visit  of  Miss  Raukin's  colporteurs  from  Monterey  some 
time  before.  In  two  years  after  this  beginning  by  Dr. 
Prevost  there  was  in  Cos  a  church  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy  members,  a  church-building  and  a  religious  paper 
started,  called  The  Emnf/eUcal  Torch.  News  of  this 
awakening  reached  America,  and  in  September,  1872, 
at  the  earnest  request  of  Dr.  Prevost,  the  Presby- 
terian Board  of  Foreign  Missions  sent  out  its  first 
band  of  ordained  missionaries  to  Mexico.  Protestant 
influences  had  then  been  at  work  in  the  capital  for  ten 
years.  Among  those  thus  inclined  were  many  whose 
republican  principles  were  so  true  in  type  that  they  pre- 
ferred a  "  Church  without  a  bishop  "  as  decidedly  as  they 
desired  "^a  State  without  a  king."  At  nine  different 
points  in  the  city  and  the  surrounding  villages  were  con- 
gregations who  had  turned  for  sympathy  to  the  little 
church  at  Cos.  The  Presbyterian  missionaries,  on  their 
way  to  that  point,  stopped  at  the  capital,  and,  finding 
there  this  waiting  church,  they  ran  up  the  old  blue  flag 
— a  token  there  and  everywhere  else  of  republicanism  of 
the  best  type  in  Church  and  State. 

Mexico  city,  Zacatecas,  San  Luis  de  Potosij  Monterey, 
Jerez,  Saltillo,  Durango,  Vera  Cruz,  Acapulco  and  Ta- 
basco are  now  centres  of  the  constantly-enlarging  work 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Says  the  Presbyterian 
Board's  forty-eighth  annual  report :  "  Our  Church  has 
congregations  in  a  continuous  line  of  States  from  the 
Rio  Grande  to  Guatemala,  and  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  thus  marking  with  a  large  cross  the 
map  of  the  republic."  The  northern  and  southern  mis- 

25 


386  A  ROUT  MEXICO. 

sions  of  this  Board  were  united  in  1884;  they  now 
centre  in  the  capital,  and  are  connected  by  rail  and 
telegraph. 

The  theological  seminary  founded  in  Mexico  city  will 
soon  be  established  in  San  Luis  de  Potosi.  In  this  insti- 
tution a  force  of  fourteen  native  ministers  and  three 
licentiates  has  been  trained  and  is  doing  efficient  service, 
and  ten  other  young  men  are  preparing  for  the  gospel 
ministry.  A  mission  press  is  in  operation,  and  the  first 
number  of  a  new  paper,  El  Faro  ("  The  Lighthouse  "), 
was  issued  in  January,  1885.  The  girls'  boarding-school 
in  the  capital  has  (1885)  23  pupils.  Another  of  the  same 
character  is  soon  to  be  started  in  the  important  field  of 
Zacatecas,  and  one  has  long  been  in  operation  in  Mon- 
terey. 

Statistics  for  Mexican  missions  of  the  Presbyterian 
Board,  as  reported  in  May,  1885,  are:  Ordained  min- 
isters, foreign  and  native,  14;  licentiates,  11 ;  total  force 
of  native  helpers,  male  and  female,  71 ;  organized  churches, 
92 ;  church-members,  communicants,  6629 ;  adults  bap- 
tized in  Southern  mission  in  1884,  631 ;  boarding-pupils 
(girls)  in  two  schools,  68  ;  day-pupils,  677 ;  Sunday- 
school  children,  1233;  contributions,  $1673. 

The  Society  of  Friends  (Orthodox)  are  doing  a  good 
work  in  the  State  of  Tamaulipas,  which  they  entered  in 
1872.  They  have  an  enterprising  publishing-house  in 
Matamoras,  which  sends  out  a  gospel  literature  to  all 
lands  where  the  Spanish  language  is  spoken.  They  have 
a  boarding-  and  day-school  in  the  same  place,  with  136 
pupils,  and  a  membership  of  about  250  in  the  State. 
About  a  thousand  persons  attend  their  services  in  six 
established  meetings.  A  boys'  school  will  soon  be 
opened. 


REGENERATION  OF  MEXICO.  387 

The  Southern  Presbyterians  have  also  a  mission  in 
Taraaulipas,  and  report  5  churches  and  331  members. 

The  Southern  Methodists,  who  entered  the  field  in 
1873,  are  strongly  entrenched  in  Mexico  city,  San  Luis 
de  Potosi,  Puebla,  Oaxaca,  Guadalajara,  Monterey  and 
Saltillo,  besides  scores  of  preaching-places  and  a  large 
ministerial  force,  both  native  and  foreign.  They  have 
a  church-membership  of  3022.  In  their  central  mission 
they  report  65  Sunday-schools  and  1300  children  en- 
rolled. A  self-sustaining  boarding-school  for  Mexican 
girls  has  been  opened  in  San  Luis  de  Potosi,  and  a  free 
day-school. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  (North)  has  circuits 
centring  in  Mexico,  Guanajuato,  Orizaba,  Pachuca,  Puebla 
and  Queretaro.  A  large  orphanage  under  the  care  of 
their  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  is  flourishing 
in  the  capital,  and  schools  in  Puebla,  Leon,  Pachuca, 
Miraflores,  Queretaro,  Real  del  Monte  and  El  Chico. 
This  mission  reports,  in  1885,  churches,  14;  full  mem- 
bers, 625;  probationers,  674;  local  preachers,  16;  Sun- 
day-schools, 18  ;  scholars  in  Sunday-schools,  764 ;  con- 
tributions, $1102. 

The  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  (Boston) 
began  work  in  1872  in  Guadalajara,  a  city  of  some 
eighty  thousand  inhabitants,  situated  on  the  west  coast, 
in  the  State  of  Jalisco.  They  found  here  at  first  a  won- 
derful spirit  of  inquiry  among  the  people.  Within  a 
few  months  there  were  several  conversions.  Bitter 
hostility  was  soon  provoked,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wat- 
kins  were  stoned  in  the  street  by  a  company  of  men 
and  boys. 

In  November  of  1872,  Rev.  Mr.  Stephens,  an  unmar- 
ried missionary,  visited  Ahualulco,  a  small  town  about 


388  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

ninety  miles  from  Guadalajara.  Here  he  had  a  home 
and  a  welcome  from  a  few  sympathising  friends,  and  for 
several  days  he  held  meetings  every  evening  in  a  room 
provided  for  him.  It  was  decided  that  Mr.  Stephens 
should  take  up  his  residence  in  this  place,  where  the 
people  were  so  much  interested  that  they  would  sit  for 
hours  at  a  time  to  listen,  and  crowd  about  him  afterward 
to  buy  Bibles  and  tracts.  For  three  months  he  had  great 
encouragement,  and  the  majority  of  the  people  tolerated, 
and  even  favored,  the  Protestants.  This  success  so  ex- 
asperated the  curate  of  the  parish  that  he  preached  a 
most  exciting  sermon  to  his  people,  mostly  Indians,  in 
which  he  said,  "  It  is  necessary  to  cut  down  even  to  the 
roots  the  tree  that  bears  bad  fruit.  You  may  interpret 
these  words  as  you  please."  An  extract  from  a  Mexican 
paper  gives  the  sad  result  of  this  appeal:  "At  two 
o'clock  on  the  2d  of  March  the  house  of  Mr.  Stephens 
was  assaulted  by  a  mob  crying,  '  Long  live  the  euro, ! 
Death  to  the  Protestants !'  They  forced  the  doors  and 
entered,  destroying  and  stealing  everything  they  found. 
Mr.  Stephens  was  brutally  assassinated,  his  head  severed 
into  several  parts  and  his  body  very  much  mutilated." 
One  of  the  Protestants  was  killed  at  the  same  time, 
and  Mr.  Wat  kins  was  threatened,  but  escaped,  and  oth- 
ers among  the  Protestants  were  assaulted  and  in  danger 
from  poison. 

In  1876,  in  spite  of  bitter  persecution — always  trace- 
able to  the  priests — the  converts  in  Guadalajara  num- 
bered one  hundred  and  fifty.  The  experience  of  the 
laborers  here  as  elsewhere  in  Mexico  proves  that  "  in  no 
portion  of  the  unevangelized  world  is  the  preaching  of 
the  simple  gospel  of  Christ  likely  to  encounter  more  de- 
termined opposition  than  in  countries  decidedly  Roman 


REGENERATION  OF  MEXICO.  389 

Catholic ;  that  in  no  other  laud  is  that  opposition,  when 
not  held  in  check  by  civil  authority,  more  likely  to  pro- 
ceed to  murderous  violence." 

With  all  that  makes  Mexico  one  of  the  most  fruitful 
of  mission-fields,  it  has  been  called  with  truth  one  of 
the  most  difficult  and  dangerous.  Scarcely  one  of  the 
early  Protestant  churches  but  has  its  martyrs,  and  some- 
times many  of  them.  The  Church  of  Jesus  has  had 
forty.  One  missionary  writes :  "  More  than  once  I  have 
looked  out  on  a  sea  of  maddened  creatures  ready  to  tear 
me  limb  from  limb,  almost  succeeding  in  forcing  an  en- 
trance into  the  house,  even  cutting  a  large  hole  in  the 
door,  but  held  back  by  the  unseen  Hand."  The  same 
writer  says,  "  The  Mexicans  are  a  revolutionary  people 
more  used  to  a  breach  of  than  obedience  or  respect  to 
law.  At  times  they  seem  to  be  incapable  of  anything 
which  is  necessary  in  deliberative  bodies." 

The  Church  party  has  stirred  up  the  worst  elements 
of  society  against  the  Protestants.  Again  and  again  the 
hand  of  a  bishop  or  other  dignitary  of  the  Church  has 
been  discerned  behind  the  scenes  of  violence  which  are 
constantly  occurring.  The  advice  of  the  curate  of 
Ahualulco  has  more  than  once  been  given  to  stir  up 
a  fanatical  mob.  In  one  case  the  preacher  gave  the 
street  and  number  where  Protestant  missionaries  could 
be  found.  In  Capulhuac,  an  Indian  town  not  far  from 
the  capital,  Louis  Gonzales,  the  first  man  who  dared  to 
present  his  child  for  baptism  in  a  Protestant  church,  was 
killed  for  his  audacity ;  at  Tisapan  five  of  the  brethren 
who  came  out  were  murdered  in  seven  years.  Until 
1880,  Protestants  were  often  forced  by  mob-law  to  bow 
to  the  Host  as  it  was  carried  about  in  processions,  but 


390  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

the  law  guaranteeing  religious  liberty  is  no  longer  a 
dead  letter. 

The  Presbyterian  church  in  Capulhuac  (just  referred 
to)  has  had  an  interesting  history.  It  was  organized  in 
1873.  For  a  long  time  the  services  were  held  in  a  se- 
cluded pine-forest  on  the  mountain-side  over-against  the 
place.  After  many  threats  from  their  enemies,  they  were 
warned  that  an  attack  was  about  to  be  made  upon  them. 
An  armed  mob  started  for  their  retreat  one  Sunday  after- 
noon, and  were  seen  crossing  the  valley  to  make  their 
way  up  the  hillside,  when  a  violent  thunder-storm  sud- 
denly arose  and  so  darkened  the  air  and  blinded  their 
adversaries  with  pelting  rain  and  hail  that  the  little  flock 
escaped  unharmed. 

One  of  the  Bible  Society's  colporteurs  was  one  day 
seeking  to  find  the  residence  of  a  Methodist  brother  in 
the  city  of  Leon.  He  had  the  difficulty  in  finding  the 
street  and  number  which  is  common  in  Mexican  cities, 
but  at  last  he  came  to  a  house  which  bore  marks  of  a 
recent  assault.  The  windows  had  been  broken  with 
stones,  and  the  walls  were  well  spattered  with  mud. 
"  This  house  has  been  mobbed  lately,"  he  said ;  "  it 
must  be  the  one  I  am  looking  for;"  and  on  inquiring 
he  found  his  conjecture  correct. 

Another  colporteur  tells  of  a  brother  Martinez,  an 
earnest  Protestant  preacher,  who  went  to  visit  the  family 
of  a  convert  in  a  town  called  Rancho  de  Dios.  The 
townspeople  had  been  making  a  new  road  between  their 
place  and  Zacatecas,  some  miles  distant,  and  they  had 
invited  the  bishop  of  Zacatecas  to  be  the  first  to  ride 
over  it.  Unhappily  for  himself,  Brother  Martinez  came 
riding  into  town  first,  taking,  of  course,  the  new  road. 
Finding  that  he  was  a  Protestant,  they  rushed  upon  him, 


REGENERATION  OF  MEXICO.  391 

tore  him  from  his  horse,  tied  him  hand  and  foot,  built  a 
fire  and  burned  his  books  and  papers,  and  were  prepar- 
ing to  burn  him  on  the  blazing  pile  when  one  of  the 
authorities  of  the  town,  who  was  a  friend  of  the  Prot- 
estants, came  up  brandishing  his  sword  among  the  crowd 
and  scattered  them,  but  not  until  they  had  succeeded  in 
burning  off  the  poor  man's  l>eard  and  hair.  The  police 
were  obliged  to  shut  Mr.  Martinez  up  in  the  town-jail 
to  protect  him  from  the  mob  which  still  thirsted  for  his 
blood. 

The  Presbyterian  church  in  Zacatecas  has  been  many 
times  tried  in  the  fires  of  persecution.  Part  of  an  aban- 
doned Catholic  church  was  rented  by  the  Protestants. 
That  this  imposing  structure  should  fall  into  heretic 
hands,  its  saints  be  taken  down  from  the  walls  and 
Scripture  texts  put  in  their  places  was  most  exasperating. 
What  gave  a  keener  point  to  the  indignity  was  the  fact 
that  the  building  had  been  erected  by  the  Inquisition 
for  its  peculiar  uses,  and  that  in  making  necessary  re- 
pairs the  secrets  of  that  awful  tribunal  had  been  unveiled 
— the  torture-chamber,  the  rack  and  pulley,  and  even 
human  skeletons  with  nails  in  their  temples,  and  other 
relics  of  the  horrid  work  of  the  Holy  Office.  The 
transfer  was  no  sooner  decided  upon  than  bishop  and 
priests  united  in  plans  for  "  putting  an  end  io  all  Prot- 
estants." The  mob  were  ready  with  knives  and  pistols, 
waiting  in  the  cathedral  itself  for  the  order  to  rush  upon 
the  Protestants  then  assembled  in  their  part  of  the  edi- 
fice. These  latter  were  out  in  large  numbers.  Even  the 
Sunday-school  children  came  and  joined  in  the  songs  of 
praise  which  many  a  brave  heart  there  thought  might 
prove  to  be  his  last  on  earth.  Happily  for  the  almost 
defenceless  church,  the  bishop  and  his  friends  had  a 


392  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

quarrel  with  the  governor  as  well  as  with  the  Protest- 
ants, and  the  city  authorities,  coming  to  the  rescue  of 
the  latter,  prevented  the  intended  massacre.  The  whole 
of  this  vast  building  is  now  used  for  Protestant  worship, 
the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  having 
sanctioned  the  purchase.  It  is  a  four-story  edifice,  with 
balconied  windows  and  solid  stone  walls  very  rich  in 
carving  and  other  ornamentation,  and  can  easily  accom- 
modate a  thousand  persons  in  its  audience- room. 

In  1875  fourteen  Protestants  were  killed  in  Acapulco 
in  a  riot  stirred  up  by  an  attempt  to  establish  a  Presby- 
terian mission  there.  The  missionary  who  accompanied 
the  party  was  obliged  to  flee  for  his  life.  He  was  taken 
for  shelter  on  board  a  man-of-war  then  in  the  harbor. 
He  made  his  way  back  to  his  home  in  Mexico  city,  a 
distance  of  three  hundred  miles,  by  going  up  the  Pacific 
coast  from  Acapulco  to  San  Francisco,  thence  overland 
to  New  York,  and  so  by  steamer  and  rail  to  Vera  Cruz 
and  the  capital.  The  little  flock  already  gathered  in 
Acapulco,  scattered  at  that  time,  "  went  everywhere 
preaching  the  word."  Two  of  them  who  fled  to  South- 
ern California  were  instrumental  in  gathering  a  circle 
of  believers  there,  who  were  afterward  found  ready  for 
organization  as  a  church  when  a  missionary  came  upon 
the  ground;  In  less  than  a  year  after  the  massacre  of 
their  brethren  thirty  new  centres  of  light  appeared  in 
mountain- villages  in  that  region,  and  nearly  five  hun- 
dred believers  traced  their  conversion  to  that  time  of 
bitter  persecution.  Native  brethren  had  supplied  their 
friends  with  Bibles  and  tracts,  Avhich  had  been  secretly 
circulated  and  read.  When  the  region  was  visited  by 
missionaries,  in  1883,  there  were  thirteen  congregations 
in  and  about  Acapulco,  and  six  churches  ready  for  or- 


REGENERATION  OF  MEXICO.  393 

ganization.  The  Rev.  Procopio  Diaz,  who  lost  two 
fingers  in  the  riot  of  1873,  came  now  as  a  welcome 
visitor.  He  took  up  his  abode  in  Chilpanzinco,  the 
capital  of  the  State  of  Guerrero,  where  the  governor 
was  so  friendly  to  the  Protestants  that  he  kept  Bibles 
in  his  house  for  circulation.  One  of  the  church-mem- 
bers in  Chilpanzinco  died  recently,  and  his  funeral  was 
the  first  ever  conducted  on  Protestant  principles  in  the 
State.  The  glorious  hopes  of  the  gospel  shed  a  new 
and  strange  light  on  a  scene  too  often  marked  by  ir- 
reverence. 

In  addition  to  the  usual  irritation  felt  in  isolated 
places  against  new  Protestant  enterprises,  there  are  now 
many  tokens  of  a  revival  of  old  prejudices.  Says  a 
mission  report  in  1885,  "  The  pressure  of  opposition 
from  the  reactionary  party  in  Mexico  is  greater  than 
for  many  years  past."  The  priesthood  have  charged 
Protestant  ministers  from  the  United  States  with  being 
secret  agents  for  their  government,  and  that  they  are 
there  only  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  annexation  of 
Mexico  to  the  United  States.  Several  mobs  have  re- 
sulted from  inflammatory  appeals  to  their  religious  feel- 
ings and  their  patriotism. 

Following  these  appeals  to  mob  law  came  the  martyr- 
dom of  a  faithful  brother,  Rev.  Nicanor  Gomez,  pastor 
of  the  church  in  Capulhuac.  He  had  gone  with  two 
sons,  one  of  them  also  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  to  lay 
the  foundations  of  a  new  and  promising  church  in  Al- 
maloya,  near  Toluca.  Not  finding  the  official  who  was 
to  give  sanction  to  this  enterprise,  Mr.  Diaz,  another 
pastor,  and  several  of  the  brethren  waited  his  arrival 
in  the  house  of  a  neighbor.  There  were  evidences  that 
a  riot  was  determined  on  to  prevent  the  Protestants  from 


394  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

holding  their  services.  People  began  to  crowd  iu  from 
other  towns.  Soon  the  Romish  church-bell  began  to 
ring,  and  the  crowd  flocked  thither.  Two  of  the  Prot- 
estants, suspecting  mischief,  went  also.  In  the  sermon 
the  priest  told  the  Romanists  that,  "  at  whatever  cost, 
the  Protestants  must  be  prevented  from  holding  their 
service;  they  were  heretics,  enemies  of  their  country, 
abandoned  in  their  moral  character,  and  ought  to  be 
destroyed."  Thus  stimulated,  the  crowd  rushed  to  the 
house  where  the  brethren  were  waiting.  The  justice  of 
the  peace  was  there,  but  not  the  prefect  or  the  police. 
Soon  with  wild  shouts  the  surging  mob  came  down  on 
them  with  showers  of  stones.  The  Gomez  brothers 
slipped  out  by  a  back  door  and  went  to  bring  the  horses. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Diaz,  assisted  by  his  brethren,  succeeded 
in  getting  on  his  saddle,  and  escaped  with  a  few  bruises 
from  clubs  after  being  chased  two  miles,  but  the  elder 
Gomez,  weakened  by  the  blows  he  had  received,  was 
dragged  to  the  ground  in  attempting  to  mount,  and  was 
so  badly  stoned  that  after  lying  unconscious  for  a  short 
time  he  died. 

"  Twelve  years  ago,"  says  a  missionary  writer,  "  this 
plain  Mexican,  Nicanor  Gomez,  while  passing  along  the 
street  was  attracted  to  a  book-stall,  on  which  he  found  a 
copy  of  the  Bible.  Purchasing  it,  he  began  to  study  its 
contents,  and,  becoming  more  interested,  he  invited  his 
wife  to  join  him  in  reading  it.  After  a  while  he  called 
in  his  neighbors  and  opened  his  house  to  a  meeting  for 
the  study  of  the  Scriptures  and  for  prayer.  Thus  a 
small  congregation  grew  up,  for  whose  accommodation 
he  gave  up  the  principal  room  in  his  humble  abode,  he 
and  his  family  being  content  with  less  commodious  quar- 
ters. Thus  for  several  years  he  carried  on  religious  scr- 


REGENERATION  OF  MEXICO.  395 

vices,  being  assisted  only  to  a  partial  extent  by  the 
mission.  He  had,  mainly  by  his  own  labor  and  re- 
sources, nearly  completed  a  small  chapel,  which  was 
about  to  be  dedicated  when  death  put  the  seal  on  his 
labors  for  the  cause  of  Christ." 

The  history  of  this  church  enterprise  is  the  counter- 
part of  many  another  in  Mexico.  The  good  seed  finds 
a  scriptural  variety  of  soil,  but  that  which  falls  on  good 
ground  is  wonderfully  prolific.  Little  Bible-reading 
circles  are  found  in  out-of-the-way  places  in  almost  every 
missionary  tour.  The  story  of  Don  Demas  Zitary  is  a 
case  in  point.  He  is  a  blacksmith  working  at  his  anvil 
all  the  week  and  preaching  twice  on  Sunday  to  a  thriv- 
ing little  church,  which  has  been  built  up  by  his  efforts. 
As  he  was  walking  out  one  evening  with  a  visiting  mis- 
sionary he  pointed  to  a  large  wooden  cross  on  a  hill 
near  by.  The  ground  around  it  was  strewn  with  sharp 
flints,  so  common  in  the  country.  The  blacksmith  said 
that  when  he  was  a  young  man  several  priests  came  to 
his  neighborhood  from  Zacatecas  on  a  collecting-tour, 
and  also  to  exhort  the  people  to  penance  for  the  salva- 
tion of  their  souls.  The  fervent  appeals  of  these  priests 
so  excited  the  crowd  that  they  all  consented  to  walk 
barefoot  in  procession  over  these  sharp  stones,  each  with 
a  crown  of  thorns  pressed  on  his  forehead  and  a  rough 
rope  around  his  neck ;  "  and,"  said  the  narrator,  "  I  was 
one  of  those  who  walked  with  bleeding  feet  around  that 
cross." 

Another  layman,  Don  Mateo  Goitia,  a  pure  Spaniard, 
is  doing  a  noble  work  for  the  Master  in  the  same  neigh- 
borhood. When  young  he  was  a  bigoted  Romanist.  At 
one  time,  when  looking  over  some  old  clothes  and  books 
which  he  had  taken  for  debt,  he  came  across  a  Spanish 


396  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

New  Testament.  He  became  interested  in  it,  and  read 
it  over  and  over  again,  till  its  truths  sank  into  his  heart. 
He  saw  the  falsities  of  his  old  faith.  He  was  convicted 
of  sin.  He  left  off  his  former  bad  habits,  and,  as  his 
new  principles  shone  out  in  his  changed  life,  he  drew 
others  to  study  a  book  which  had  brought  such  blessed 
results.  He  now  set  up  a  church  in  his  own  house;  in 
two  years  sixty  persons  were  worshiping  there.  In  1880 
the  members  numbered  eighty-seven. 

There  is  something  in  the  loving  zeal  of  many  of  these 
untutored  laborers  for  Christ  which  promises  wonders  for 
the  future  of  the  Church  in  Mexico. 

The  story  of  the  introduction  of  the  gospel  into  the 
State  of  Michoacan,  as  gleaned  from  the  letters  of  Rev. 
J.  M.  Greene,  gives  a  touching  feature  of  humble  Chris- 
tian service  in  connection  with  the  labors  of  Rev.  H. 
Forcada  and  other  native  brethren  among  the  Indians 
of  that  region.  Mr.  Forcada's  first  visit  was  to  Junapeo, 
a  small  town  among  clustering  villages  in  the  lowlands 
west  of  the  capital.  A  few  Bibles  and  tracts  had  been 
sold  or  given  by  a  Mexican  bookseller  in  Zitacuaro  a  few 
years  before,  and  these  had  no  doubt  been  doing  a  silent 
work  ever  since  among  the  people.  But  in  1876,  when 
Mr.  Forcada  came,  Junapeo  received  him  very  coldly. 
Shelter  was  most  unwillingly  given  him  in  the  village 
inn,  and  the  storekeeper  positively  refused  to  sell  the 
heretic  anything.  After  three  months'  faithful  work 
Mr.  Forcada  deemed  best  to  abandon  Junapeo  for  the 
time.  He  would  not  go,  however,  until  he  had  asked 
the  Master  to  have  his  way  made  so  plain  that  he  could 
not  mistake  it.  That  very  night  the  little  room  where 
he  had  been  holding  meetings  was  full.  The  work  in- 
creased in  power.  The  inhospitable  innkeeper  was  con- 


REGENERATION  OF  MEXICO.  397 

verted  and  became  a  pillar  in  the  Protestant  community. 
For  five  years  the  religious  meetings  were  held  free  of 
charge  in  his  large  parlor.  His  wife,  once  a  bigoted 
Romanist,  was  equally  zealous  after  her  change  of  heart, 
and  taught  her  poor  neighbors  daily. 

In  time,  Brother  Rodriguez's  quarters  grew  too  strait 
for  the  people  who  flocked  to  hear  a  free  gospel,  and 
they  began  to  build  a  church.  Mr.  Rodriguez  gave  a 
lot  and  six  hundred  and  seventy-four  dollars  toward  the 
building,  besides  superintending  the  work.  The  house, 
sixty  feet  by  twenty-seven,  cost  twenty-six  hundred  dol- 
lars, of  which  ninety  of  the  people  gave  ten  hundred 
and  ninety  dollars.  Four  young  brethren  who  are  sup- 
porting themselves  while  they  study  for  the  ministry  did 
the  work  on  pulpit,  tables,  benches,  etc.  for  their  contri- 
bution, while  the  story  of  the  sixty  beams  which  support 
the  roof  is  as  interesting  as  though  the  scene  had  been 
laid  where  the  old  Sidonians  hewed  cedar  trees  out  of 
Lebanon  for  the  temple  in  Jerusalem :  "  When  the 
walls  of  the  church  were  complete,  it  became  necessary 
to  secure  sixty  stout  beams  thirty-six  feet  long.  To  have 
bought  them  in  Junapeo  would  have  cost  ninety  dollars. 
A  good  brother  in  Ahuacate,  eighteen  miles  away,  hear- 
ing of  their  need,  sent  them  word  that  they  were  at  per- 
fect liberty  to  enter  his  pine  forest  and  cut  free  of  cost 
all  the  beams  they  needed.  The  offer  was  promptly  ac- 
cepted. All  the  oxen  in  the  neighborhood  belonging  to 
the  brethren  or  their  friends  were  brought  together, 
numbering  thirty  yoke,  with  two  men  to  each  yoke. 
On  a  Monday  morning  they  started.  Brethren  along 
the  road  gave  men  and  oxen  their  meals,  and  cared  for 
them  at  night.  Three  days  were  necessary  for  the  round 
trip,  so  that  by  Saturday  night  the  thirty-six  miles  had 


398  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

been  twice  traversed  and  sixty  fine  beams  were  ready  to 
be  placed  on  the  walls.  The  oxen  were  furnished  with- 
out charge.  The  sixty  brethren  each  gave  a  week  of 
his  time  without  cost,  and  the  work  was  all  done  as  a 
voluntary  offering  to  the  Lord.  As  I  looked  at  those 
beams  afterward,  neatly  hewed  and  placed  in  position, 
they  seemed  to  me  sermons  in  wood,  objects  as  sa- 
cred as  the  gold  which  was  given  for  the  tabernacle, 
and  I  doubt  not  that  they  were  equally  acceptable  to 
God." 

When  the  church  was  done,  eight  of  the  brethren 
walked  fifteen  miles  to  Zitactiaro  after  an  organ  which 
had  been  sent  to  them  by  friends  in  the  United  States. 
As  Junapeo  lies  three  thousand  feet  lower  and  it  was 
impossible  to  carry  such  a  load  on  muleback  down  the 
steep  mountain-paths,  these  men  carried  it  on  a  sort  of 
bier,  accomplishing  the  labor  of  love  by  nightfall  of  the 
same  day. 

The  house  was  dedicated  on  New  Year's  Day,  1883. 
Such  crowds — men,  women  and  children,  most  of  them 
on  foot — came  from  far  and  near  that  the  opening  ser- 
vices were  held  out  of  doors.  Wrapped  in  their  blankets, 
they  camped  out  under  the  open  sky.  In  the  tropical 
climate  of  Junapeo  this  was  the  best  arrangement  which 
could  be  made  for  such  a  mass  of  perspiring  humanity. 
But  there  came  a  time  when  the  house  had  to  be  packed 
to  its  utmost  capacity.  Fifty  persons  were  admitted  to 
the  church  on  confession  of  their  faith  on  that  occasion. 
We  quote  again  from  Dr.  Greene :  "  As  I  looked  over 
that  audience  of  five  hundred,  filling  all  the  benches 
and  seated  on  the  floor,  the  great  mass  of  humble  Indians 
clothed  in  white  muslin,  who  receive  eighteen  to  twenty- 
five  cents  a  day,  not  more  than  one  in  ten  of  whom  could 


REGENERATION  Of  MEXICO.  399 

read,  and  as  I  noted  their  earnest  and  devout  attention 
to  the  reading  of  Solomon's  prayer  at  the'  dedication  of 
the  temple,  and  to  the  preaching ;  as  I  saw  the  peace  and 
joy  reflected  on  their  faces,  and  in  some  cases  the  tear 
of  penitence  or  gratitude  stealing  down  their  cheeks, — I 
longed  to  be  able  to  photograph  the  scene  and  place  it 
before  all  our  Christian  people  at  home  who  have  loved 
and  prayed  for  the  Mexican  work  as  a  proof  to  them 
that  their  gifts  and  prayers  have  been  most  signally 
blest." 

Junapeo  has  its  counterpart  in  many  a  town  and 
hamlet  in  Mexico.  Help  from  abroad  seems  to  stim- 
ulate to  the  utmost  these  generous  people.  The  Indians, 
the  chief  actors  in  every  anti-Protestant  riot,  furnish  also 
the  greatest  numbers  in  the  harvest  of  souls  gathered  by 
Protestant  missions.  The  heaviest  part  of  the  work 
of  evangelization  now  going  on  in  Mexico  is  done  by 
native  brethren  whose  zeal  and  faithfulness  have  already 
been  blessed  to  the  saving  of  hundreds  of  souls  in  fields 
which  have  been  entirely  tilled  by  them.  As  soon  as 
possible  it  is  intended  that  the  work  shall  be  left  entirely 
in  the  hands  of  the  native  ministry. 

Many  who  are  noting  the  signs  of  the  times  in  Mex- 
ico believe  that  greater  persecutions  are  in  store  for  Prot- 
estants there  than  they  have  yet  experienced.  The  star 
of  conservatism  seems  to  be  once  more  in  the  ascendant, 
and  Rome  rejoices.  She  is  still  plotting  against  every 
principle  on  which  Mexican  liberties  have  been  estab- 
lished. But,  amid  the  turnings  and  overturnings  to 
which  these  revolutionary  people  are  subject,  Christ  is 
building  up  his  kingdom  among  them  on  foundations 
firmer  than  the  great  mountains  on  which  their  cities 
stand.  As  "  a  leader  and  commander  to  the  people  "  he 


400  ABOUT  MEXICO. 

has  already  caused  his  standard  to  be  lifted  up  in  this 
land.  They  are  gathering  out  the  stones  and  casting  up 
his  highway,  and  some  happy  day  "  the  work  of  right- 
eousness shall  be  peace,  and  the  effect  of  righteousness 
quietness  and  confidence  for  ever." 


APPENDIX. 


JUST  as  this  volume  goes  to  press,  a  book  by  the  Hon. 
David  A.  Wells,  LL.D.,  entitled  A  Study  of  Mexico,  is 
issued  from  the  house  of  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York. 
The  following  table,  showing  the  population  and  the  area 
of  each  of  the  States  of  Mexico  according  to  the  census 
of  1879,  is  from  this  book : 


Order  of 
density  of 
population. 

Name. 

Area  in 
square 
miles. 

Number  of 
population. 

Pop. 
per  sq. 
mile. 

1 

The  Federal  District  (City  of 
Mexico)     

463 

351  804 

759 

2 

State  of  Mexico   

7,840 

710579 

90 

3 

'     "    Morelos      

1,776 

159,160 

89 

4 

'     "    Tlaxcala     

1  622 

138  958 

85 

5 
6 

'     "    Guanajuato    .... 
'     "    Puebla    

11,413 
12019 

834,845 
784,466 

73 
65 

7 

'     ''    Queretaro  

3,205 

203  250 

63 

8 

'     "    Hidalgo     

8161 

427  350 

52 

9 
10 
11 

'     "    Aguas  Calientes    .    . 
'    Michoacan     .... 
'      '    Jalisco    

2,897 
23,714 
39,174 

140,430 
661,534 
983484 

48 
27 
25 

12 

'      '    Oaxaca  

33,582 

744  000 

22 

13 
14 
15 

'      '    Vera  Cruz      .... 
'      '    San  Luis  Potosi    .    . 
'      '    Zacatecas    

26,232 
27,503 
22999 

542,918 
516,486 
422  506 

20 
18 
18 

16 

'      '    Colima    

3746 

65827 

17 

17 

"      '    Chiapas  

16048 

205  362 

12 

18 

"     "    Guerrero    

24,552 

295  590 

12 

19 

"     "    Yucatan     

29,569 

302315 

10 

20 

"     "    Tabasco  

11  849 

104  747 

8 

21 

22 

"     '    Nuevo  Leon  .... 
"      '    Sinaloa  

23,637 
36200 

203,284 
186491 

8 
5 

23 

24 

Tamaulipas   .... 
"      '    Duran^o     

27,916 
42511 

140,137 
190  846 

5 

4 

25 
26 

27 

"      '    Campeachy    .... 
"      '    Chihuahua    .... 
"      '    Coahuila    

25,834 
83,751 
50904 

90,413 
225,541 
130026 

3 

2 
2 

28 

"     "    Sonora    

79020 

115424 

1 

29   • 

Territory  of  Lower  California 

61,563. 

30,208 

f 

i 

Total  for  the  Republic   .    . 

739,700 

9,908,011 

13.4 

401 


4  "2  APPEXDIX. 

The  following  facts  are  given  by  Mr.  Wells  concerning 
the  past  and  the  present  of  the  Church  in  Mexico.  After 
the  downfall  of  Maximilian,  when  Juarez  became  the  un- 
disputed and  practically  absolute  ruler  of  the  country,  the 
entire  property  of  the  Mexican  Church  was  at  once  "  nation- 
alized "  (a  synonym  for  "  confiscated ")  for  the  use  of  the 
State.  Mr.  Wells  thus  describes  the  change  that  resulted : 

"  Every  convent,  monastic  institution,  or  religious  house 
was  closed  up  and  devoted  to  secular  purposes,  and  the 
members  of  every  religious  society,  from  the  Jesuits  to  the 
Sisters  of  Charity  who  served  in  the  hospitals  or  taught  in 
the  schools,  were  banished  and  summarily  sent  out  of  the 
country.  And  so  vigorously  and  severely  is  the  policy  of 
subjugating  the  ecclesiastical  to  the  civil  authority — which 
Juarez  inaugurated  in  1867 — still  carried  out  that  no  con- 
vent or  monastery  now  openly  exists  in  Mexico,  and  no 
priest  or  sister,  or  any  ecclesiastic,  can  walk  the  streets  in 
any  distinctive  costume  or  take  part  in  any  religious  parade 
or  procession;  and  this  in  towns  and  cities  where  twenty 
years  ago  or  less  tile  life  of  a  foreigner  or  skeptic  who  did 
not  promptly  kneel  in  the  streets  at  the  '  procession  of  the 
Host'  was  imperiled.  Again,  while  Catholic  worship  is 
still  permitted  in  the  cathedrals  and  in  a  sufficient  number 
of  other  churches,  it  is  clearly  understood  that  all  of  these 
structures  and  the  land  upon  which  they  stand  are  abso- 
lutely the  property  of  the  government*  liable  to  be  sold  and 
converted  to  other  uses  at  any  time,  and  that  the  officiating 
clergy  are  only  '  tenants  at  will/  Even  the  ringing  of  the 
church-bells  is  regulated  by  law.  All  these  rites,  further- 
more— which  the  Catholic  Church  has  always  'classed  as 
among  her  holy  sacraments  and  exclusive  privileges,  and 
the  possession  of  which  has  constituted  the  chief  source  of 
her  power  over  society — are  also  now  regulated  by  civil 
law.  The  civil  authority  registers  births,  performs  the  mar- 
riage ceremony  and  provides  for  the  burial  of  the  dead,  and, 
while  the  Church  marriage  ceremonies  are  not  prohibited  to 


APPENDIX.  403 

those  who  desire  them,  they  are  legally  superfluous  and 
alone  have  no  validity  whatever/  (See  Report  an  Church 
and  Stoic  in  Mexico  to  ike  State  Department  by  Consul-Gen- 
eral  Strother,  December,  1883.) 

"  How  the  lower  orders  of  the  Mexican  people  other  than 
the  distinctive  Indian  population  regarded  the  proceedings 
of  the  government  against  the  Church  is  thus  described  by 
M.  Desire  Charney  in  the  account  of  his  researches  in  Cen- 
tral America : '  Upon  the  suppression  of  the  monastic  orders 
in  Mexico,  and  the  confiscation  of  the  property  of  the  cler- 
gy, and  the  demolition  of  certain  churches  and  convents, 
the  multitude  protested,  but  without  violence.  The  lepero*, 
all  covered  as  they  were  with  medals,  rosaries  and  scapu- 
lars, pulled  down  the  houses  of  their  fetiches,  while  the  old 
women — indignant  witnesses  of  the  sacrilege — ejaculated 
their  a  res  without  ceasing.  The  exiles  had  fulminated  the 
major  excommunication  against  whoever  should  have  act 
or  part  in  the  work  of  demolition  or  should  tread  the  streets 
cut  through  the  grounds  of  the  torn-down  convents,  but 
after  a  week  or  so  all  fear  vanished,  and  not  only  did  the 
destroyers  go  about  their  work  without  remorse,  but  they 
even  used  the  sacred  wood-work  of  the  churches  to  make 
their  kitchen-fires,  and  the  new  streets  had  their  passengers 
like  the  older  ones,1— North,  American  Review,  October,  1880. 

"  Mr.  Strother,  who  has  studied  the  matter  very  carefully, 
suggests  that  an  explanation  may  be  found  in  the  character 
of  the  Indian  races  of  Mexico,  who  constitute  the  bulk  of 
the  population,  and  *  whose  native  spirit  of  independence 
predominates  over  all  other  sentiments.'  He  also  throws 
out  the  opinion  that  *  the  aborigines  of  the  country  never 
were  completely  Christianized,  but,  awed  by  force  or  daz- 
zled by  showy  ceremonials,  accepted  the  external  forms  of 
the  new  faith  as  a  sort  of  compromise  with  the  conquerors.' 
And  he  states  that  he  has  himself  recently  attended  'relig- 
ious festivals  where  the  Indians  assisted,  clothed  and  armed 
as  in  the  days  of  Montezuma,  with  a  curious  intermingling 


404  APPENDIX. 

of  Christian  and  pagan  emblems,  and  ceremonies  closely 
resembling  some  of  the  sacred  dances  of  the  North  Amer- 
ican tribes.'  It  is  also  asserted  that  on  the  anniversaries 
of  the  ancient  Aztec  festivals  garlands  are  hung  upon  the 
great  stone  idol  that  stands  in  the  court-yard  of  the  Na- 
tional Museum,  and  that  the  natives  of  the  mountain-villages 
sometimes  steal  away  on  such  days  to  the  lonely  forests  or 
hidden  caves  to  worship  in  secret  the  gods  of  their  ances- 
tors. But,  be  the  explanation  what  it  may,  it  is  greatly  to 
the  credit  of  Mexico,  and  one  of  the  brightest  auguries  for 
her  future,  that  after  years  of  war  and  social  and  political 
revolutions,  in  which  the  adherents  both  of  liberty  and 
absolutism  have  seemed  to  vie  with  each  other  in  outrag- 
ing humanity,  the  idea  of  a  constitutional  government 
based  on  the  broadest  republican  principles  has  lived, 
and  to  as  large  an  extent  as  has  perhaps  been  possible 
under  the  circumstances  practically  asserted  itself  in  a 
national  administrative  system. 

"  When  the  traveler  visits  the  cities  of  Mexico  and  sees  the 
number  and  extent  of  the  convents,  religious  houses  and 
churches  which,  having  been  confiscated,  are  either  in  the 
process  of  decay  or  occupied  for  secular  purposes,  and  in 
the  country  has  pointed  out  to  him  the  estates  which  were 
formerly  the  property  of  the  Church,  he  gets  some  realiza- 
tion of  the  nature  of  the  work  which  Juarez  had  the  ability 
and  the  courage  to  accomplish.  And  when  he  further  re- 
flects on  the  numbers  of  idle,  shiftless,  and  certainly  to  some 
extent  profligate,  people  who  tenanted  or  were  supported  by 
these  great  properties,  and  who,  producing  nothing  and  con- 
suming everything,  virtually  lived  on  the  superstitious  fears 
of  their  countrymen — which  they  at  the  same  time  did  their 
best  to  create  and  perpetuate — he  no  longer  wonders  that 
Mexico  and  her  people  are  poor  and  degraded,  but  rather 
that  they  are  not  poorer  and  more  degraded  than  they  are. 

"  What  amount  of  property  was  owned  by  the  Mexican 
Church  and  clergy  previous  to  its  secularization  is  not  cer- 


APPENDIX.  405 

tainly  known — at  least,  by  the  public.  It  is  agreed  that 
they  at  one  time  held  the  titles  to  all  the  best  property  of 
the  republic,  both  in  city  and  in  country,  and  there  is  said 
to  have  been  an  admission  by  the  clerical  authorities  to  the 
ownership  of  eight  hundred  and  sixty-one  estates  in  the 
country,  valued  at  seventy-one  million  dollars,  and  of 
twenty-two  thousand  lots  of  city  property,  valued  at  one 
hundred  and  thirteen  million  dollars,  making  a  total  of 
one  hundred  and  eighty-four  million  dollars.  Other  esti- 
mates, more  general  in  their  character,  are  to  the  effect  that 
the  former  aggregate  wealth  of  the  Mexican  Church  can- 
not have  been  less  than  three  hundred  million  dollars ;  and, 
according  to  Mr.  Strother,  it  is  not  improbable  that  even 
this  large  estimate  falls  short  of  the  truth,  '  inasmuch  as  it 
is  admitted  that  the  Mexican  ecclesiastical  body  well  under- 
stood the  value  of  money  as  an  element  of  power,  and,  as 
bankers  and  money-lenders  for  the  nation,  possessed  vast 
assets  which  could  not  be  publicly  known  or  estimated.' 
Notwithstanding,  also,  the  great  losses  which  the  Church 
had  undoubtedly  experienced  prior  to  the  accession  of  Jua- 
rez, in  1867,  and  his  control  of  the  State,  the  annual  reve- 
nue of  the  Mexican  clergy  at  that  time,  from  tithes,  gifts, 
charities  and  parochial  dues,  is  believed  to  have  been  not 
less  than  twenty-two  million  dollars,  or  more  than  the  entire 
aggregate  revenues  of  the  State  derived  from  all  its  customs 
and  internal  taxes.  Some  of  the  property  that  thus  came 
into  possession  of  the  government  was  quickly  sold  by  it, 
and  at  very  low  prices,  and,  very  curiously,  was  bought,  in 
some  notable  instances,  by  other  religious  (Protestant)  de- 
nominations, which  previous  to  1857  had  not  been  allowed 
to  obtain  even  so  much  as  tolerance  or  a  foothold  in  the 
country.  Thus,  the  former  spacious  headquarters  of  the 
order  of  the  Franciscans,  with  one  of  the  most  elegant 
and  beautifully-proportioned  chapels  in  the  world  within 
its  walls,  and  fronting  in  part  on  the  Calle  de  San  Fran- 
cisco, the  most  fashionable  street  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  was 


406  APPENDIX. 

sold  to  Bishop  Riley  and  a  well-known  philanthropist  of 
New  York,  acting  for  the  American  Episcopal  missions,  at 
an  understood  price  of  thirty-five  thousand  dollars,  and  is 
now  valued  at  over  two  hundred  thousand  dollars.  In  like 
manner,  the  American  Baptist  missionaries  have  gained  an 
ownership  or  control  in  the  city  of  Puebla  of  the  old  palace 
of  the  Inquisition,  and  in  the  City  of  Mexico  the  former 
enormous  palace  of  the  Inquisition  is  now  a  medical  col- 
lege, while  the  Plaza  de  San  Domingo,  which  adjoins  and 
fronts  the  church  of  San  Domingo,  and  where  the  auto-da-fe 
was  once  held,  is  now  used  as  a  market-place.  A  former 
magnificent  old  convent,  to  some  extent  reconstructed  and 
repaired,  also  affords  quarters  to  the  National  Library,  which 
in  turn  is  largely  made  up  of  spoils  gathered  from  the  libra- 
ries of  the  religious  '  orders '  and  houses.  The  national 
government,  hoAvever,  does  not  appear  to  have  derived  any 
great  fiscal  advantage  from  the  confiscation  of  the  Church 
property,  or  to  have  availed  itself  of  the  resources  which 
thus  came  to  it  for  effecting  any  marked  reduction  of  the 
national  debt.  Good  Catholics  would  not  buy  '  God's  prop- 
erty '  and  take  titles  from  the  State,  and  so  large  tracts  of 
land  and  blocks  of  city  buildings  passed  at  a  very  low 
figure  into  the  possession  of  those  who  were  indifferent  to 
the  Church  and'had  command  of  ready  money ;  and  in  this 
way  individuals  rather  than  the  State  and  the  great  body 
of  the  people  have  been  benefited." 


AGUILAR,  380.          x 

death  of,  381. 
Alvarado's  cruelty,  and  its  cost, 

211. 

American  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, 387. 

Aguas,  Manuel,  converted  to  "Prot- 
estantism, 382. 
Aztecs,  34. 

are  defeated,  and  their  capital 
is  destroyed,  236. 

armor,  62. 

born  warriors,  61. 

children,  114. 

cruelties,  83. 

doctrine  of  future  life,  83. 

education,  116. 

festivals,  89. 

home  rules,  113. 

language,  111. 

laws,  50. 

manuscripts,  110. 

marriage,  121. 

rebel  against  Spaniards,  203. 

ruins,  42. 

schools,  117. 

softer  traits,  1 22. 

tactics,  66. 

traditions,  37. 

tyranny,  129. 

writings,  107. 


B. 

BIBLE    SECRETLY   CIRCULATED, 

365. 
Bravo,  Miguel,  275.  / 

O. 

CACAMA,  Tezcucan  chief,  185,  203. 
Capital   of  Mexico,  Cortez'   first 

view  of,  183. 
Cempoalla,  151. 
Chapultepec  Castle,  328. 
Chihuahua,  352. 
Children,  mode  of  training,  113. 

naming  of,  115. 

sold  for  sacrifice,  123. 
Cholula  a  sacred  city,  170. 

pyramid  of,  32. 
Cibola,  seven  cities  of,  261. 
Civilization,  ancient  Mexican,  92. 
Columbus  the  Pathfinder,  17. 
Cortez,  135. 

ascends  Popocatepetl,  180. 

as  missionary,  154. 

Aztecs  rebel  against,  203. 

besieges  and  destroys  City  of 
Mexico,  236. 

cool  reception,  140. 

Cuban  jealousy  of,  208. 

enters  Tlascala,  225. 

expedition  of,  135. 

march  toward  Mexico,  158. 

rallies  at  Otuuiba,  223. 
407 


408 


INDEX. 


Cortez  reinforced  from  Cuba,  227. 
retreats  from  city,  217. 
returns  and  captures  Tezcuco, 

229. 
Country  decides  to  be  republican, 

282. 
Creoles,  267. 

D. 

DE  CORDOVA,  131. 
Dress,  modes  of,  101. 

E. 

END  OF  SPAIN'S  POWER,  284. 
Enslavement  of  Indians,  252. 

F. 

FEATHERED  SERPENT,  75,  129. 
Festivals,  Aztec,  89. 
Franciscan  friars  arrive,  247. 
Friends,  mission  of,  386. 
Funeral  rites,  103. 

0. 

GRIJA J,VA'S  EXPEDITION,  134. 
Guadalajara,  356. 
Guadahipe  Victoria^  280. 
Guanajuato,  355. 
Guatemozin  betrayed,  243. 

surrenders,  236. 
Gulf  of  Mexico  discovered,  131. 

H. 

HARBORS,  336. 
Hidalgo,  270. 

betrayal  and  death,  274. 

plots  for  independence,  272. 
Homes,  Mexican,  95. 
Hungry  Fox,  story  of  the,  124. 

temple  of  the,  72. 


I. 

IDOLS  BURNT  IN  THE  STREET, 
157. 

torn  down,  206. 
Improvements,  339. 
Indian  hucksters,  310. 
Indians  enslaved,  252. 
Inquisition  set  up,  265. 
Iturbide,  278. 

abdicates,  283. 

banished,  283. 

proclaimed  emperor,  282. 

strikes  for  liberty,  282. 
Iztapalapa,  186. 

J. 
JUAREZ,  BENITO,  285. 

death  of,  305. 

exiled,  294. 

recalled.  294. 

services  of,  289. 

struggling  for  liberty,  299. 
Jesuits  expelled,  265. 

L. 

LAKE  ZUMPANGO  DRAINED,  256. 

Las  Casas,  251,  254. 

Laws  and  government,  Aztec,  50. 

M. 

MANNERS  OF  THE  PEOPLE,  101. 
Marina,  first  American  Christian, 

143. 

Martyrs,  Protestant,  392. 
Maximilian  executed,  304. 

sent  over  as  emperor.  297. 
Mendoza,  first  viceroy,  253. 
Mexico  before  the  conquest,  22. 

early  settlers,  29. 

mineral  wealth,  27. 

present  government,  305. 


INDEX. 


409 


Mexico,  productions,  25. 

railway,  309. 

wealth,  first  glimpse  of,  20. 
Mexico,  City  of,  ancient,  96. 

cathedral  of,  320. 

destroyed,  236. 

education  in,  325. 

houses,  322. 

markets  of,  316. 

new  city  described,  314. 

rebuilt,  240. 

residents,  326. 

water-supply,  316. 
Mexico,  Gulf  of,  discovered,  131. 
Mexitli,  the  Aztec  capital,  39. 
Michoacan,  gospel  introduced  into, 

396. 

Mines  and  minerals,  344. 
Missions,  American  Board  of  For- 
eign, 387. 

Friends,  386. 

Methodist,  387. 

Presbyterian,  384. 

Rankin,  Miss,  pioneer  mis- 
sionary, 371. 

Eiley,  Eev.  H.  C.,  381. 
Monterey,  351. 

missionary  work,  375. 
Montezuma,  Cortez  preaches  to, 
191. 

Cortez  sends  presents  to,  144. 

death  of,  213. 

meets  Cortez,  187. 

presents  from,  146. 

seized  and  held  a  captive,  199. 

submits  as  vassal,  204. 
Morelos  and  his  heroes,  275. 

N. 

NARVAEZ  DEFEATED  AND  CAP- 
TURED, 210. 


Narvaez  sent  to  supersede  Cortez, 

208. 

New  government  of  Mexico,  253. 
New  Seville,  151. 


O. 


ORIZABA,  307. 

P. 

PEOPLE,  346. 

mode  of  living,  347. 
Picture-writing,  108-111. 
Plants,  342. 
Police  in  cities,  354. 
Popocatapetl  ascended,  180. 

described,  329. 
Presbyterian  missions,  384. 

at  Capulhuac,  390. 

at  Zacatecas,  391. 

statistics,  386. 

Priesthood,  corruption  of,  266. 
Puebla,  358. 

Q. 

QUERETARO,  355. 

B. 

RAILWAY,  309. 
Railroads,  336. 
Rankin,  Miss,  pioneer  missionary, 

371. 

Reformation,  Bible  secretly  circu- 
lated, 365. 
principles,  360. 
Reporting,   Mexican   method   of, 

145. 

Riley,  Rev.  H.  C.,  381. 
Ruins,  ancient,  32. 
Aztec,  42. 


410 


INDEX. 


Ruins  in  New  Mexico,  46. 
Toltec,  32. 

S. 

SACRED  PLACES  AND  PEOPLE,  70. 
Santa  Anna  president  of  Mexico, 

290. 

Schools,  117. 
Seasons,  339. 
'  Slaves  set  free,  289. 
Spain  despoiled  Mexico,  262. 
end  of  power,  284. 
grasping  policy  of,  259. 
Spanish  cruelty,  244,  250. 

invaders  as  missionaries,  136. 

T. 

TEMPLE  OF  HUNGRY  Fox,  72. 
Temples,  ancient,  78. 
Tezcucans,  54. 
Tl  lacalans,  161. 


Tlascalaus,  battle  with  the  Span- 
iards, 164. 
Toltecs,  31. 

history  of,  34. 

ruins  of,  32. 

V. 

VERA  CRUZ,  307. 
Villages,  Indian,  36,  242. 
Virgin  Mary,  Indian,  109,  331. 
Votan,  29. 

W. 
WAR  WITH  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

289. 

Worship,  early,  70. 
Writing,  origin  of,  106. 

picture-writing,  108-111. 

Z. 

ZACATECAS,  355. 


THE   END. 


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